Life review and tunnel sensation in near-death experiences appear to be culture-bound phenomena, confined largely to societies where historic religions are dominant. The clinical literature postulating biological theories for life review and tunnel sensations, therefore, may have been developed somewhat prematurely. The present review argues that social and historical explanations are more...
Although cerebral anoxia is not thought to be responsible for triggering near-death experiences (NDEs), the issue is not so clear in the case of hypercapnia. Detection of normal blood gases in Michael Sabom's (1982) case study seems to be the major reply to suggest that hypercapnia may have a causal role in NDEs. We argue, however, that routine arterial measures of blood gases are not a...