Bright light, warmth, separation of the spirit from the body, life passing before the eyes, meeting with spirits - all these are experiences that thousands, and maybe even millions of people who have experienced clinical death have faced.
Near-death experiences have more than once been described in a similar way by many people. In fact, this is a widely recognized phenomenon, but it still attracts considerable skepticism from the medical and scientific community. Many experts believe that near-death experiences are inherently nothing more than hallucinations or illusions. So far, no one has been able to see or prove life after death.
Unstudied phenomenon
Despite the huge number of stories about near-death experiences, which seem to only multiply due to the improvement of methods and methods of resuscitation in cardiac arrest, this phenomenon is currently completely unexplored. Very little objective research has been done that looks at NDEs.
Researchers from the University of Southampton recently completed and published a four-year, international study of more than 2,000 cardiac arrest survivors. The results were very interesting and even exciting. This research allows us to understand this mystical experience a little better.
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New research
As described in Resuscitation, the study was designed to objectively assess and examine mental performance during cardiac arrest. The researchers created an environment in which the NDEs of the people who experienced them could be tested and even determined whether the visions were hallucinations or were indeed brain activity that was not affected by anesthesia, stress, or sedatives.
Of the 2,060 patients participating in the study, 330 were successfully resuscitated, 140 of whom were able to successfully complete structured interviews and inform the researchers of their memories during resuscitation.
Consciousness at the time of clinical death
The researchers found that 39% of the interviewees described some degree of consciousness they had before returning to life, that is, during that short period of time when their hearts were not beating.
Most of the patients, however, did not have accurate and clear memories of the event. Presumably, many people do maintain mental alertness during cardiac arrest, but cannot recover the memories of the experience after returning to life. According to one of the study's authors, this can be due to brain injury or sedation.
Probable causes of near-death experiences
For example, ketamine, a dissociative anesthetic used for sedation and general anesthesia, is known to cause patients to experience intense feelings of separation from the body, peace and joy. The ketamine-induced state is almost identical to the descriptions of near-death experiences.
A previous study that looked at the brain activity of seven critically ill patients while disconnected from life-support devices found a spike in brain activity at the time of death. The lead author of the study argues that seizures in the memory regions of the patient's brain can cause near-death experiences.
Feelings and emotions
While participants in a recent study were unable to recall the exact details, many of them experienced similar feelings and emotions. According to information published in the National Post, 20% of those surveyed said they felt peaceful, and almost one-third of them noticed that the passage of time had changed; for some it has accelerated, while for others, on the contrary, it has slowed down.
Some survivors felt calm and saw the bright light, while others felt fear and even felt like someone was pulling them through a stream of water.
Interestingly, 13% of the surviving people experienced a sense of separation of body and mind. One participant even claimed to have watched his resuscitation from a corner of the operating room.
It took three minutes for this man to recover his heartbeat, and he could detail certain details, personnel and procedures.
conclusions
Doctors believe that the brain cannot function after the heart stops beating. But in the case of near-death experiences, consciousness is maintained for some time after the heart stops, even though the brain tends to freeze 20-30 seconds after the heartbeat stops.
And although only 2% of patients were able to accurately recall and describe actual events that could be confirmed or rechecked, their testimony and experience of consciousness at the time of death cannot be discredited at this stage. Therefore, it is important that more research of this kind be conducted to better understand brain activity and its relationship to consciousness.
Hope Chikanchi
