The near-death experience in children: Shades of the prison-house reopening
Journal of Near-Death Studies December 1, 1983 N. Bush
Near-death experiences (NDEs) in children closely resemble those reported by adults, suggesting that cultural conditioning does not primarily shape their content. A review of seventeen accounts, including two from very young children, found that the core features of NDEs—such as feelings of peace, seeing a light, or encountering beings—appear early in life, before extensive cultural or religious learning has occurred. This finding challenges the argument that NDEs are merely culturally conditioned responses to a life crisis.