Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice
February 26, 2026
Natasha Tassell-Matamua, Karalee Kothe, Michael Nahm et al.
The unanticipated occurrence of unusually enhanced mental clarity just before death has been reported across time and cultures and has come to be known by the term “terminal lucidity.” Cases that appear to be characteristic of terminal lucidity in children have been sporadically documented in historical and more recent literature, yet no studies have systematically examined the characteristics...
Consciousness and Cognition
January 18, 2026
Marieta Pehlivanova, Rense Lange, Bruce Greyson et al.
This study presents the first comprehensive psychometric comparison of Greyson's (1983) 16-item Near-Death Experience Scale (NDE Scale) and Martial et al.'s (2020) 20-item Near-Death Experience Content Scale (NDE-C) using Rasch modeling and differential item functioning (or response bias) analyses. A total of 705 self-identified "near-death experiencers" (64% women) completed both measures,...
Frontiers in Psychology
October 16, 2025
Bruce Greyson, Jeffrey Long, Janice Miner Holden et al.
3 citations
Introduction: In this study, we describe the construction of the veridical Near-Death Experience Scale (vNDE Scale), a structured instrument for evaluating the evidential strength of perceptions reported during near-death experiences (NDEs), and its first validation by human and artificial raters. Methods: The construction was implemented using a typical Delphi Method. The first draft of the...
July 26, 2025
Bruce Greyson, Jeffrey Long, Janice Holden et al.
preprint
Introduction: In this study, we describe the construction of the veridical Near-Death Experience Scale (vNDE Scale), a structured instrument for evaluating the evidential strength of perceptions reported during near-death experiences (NDEs), and its first validation by human and artificial raters.Methods: The construction was implemented using a typical Delphi Method. The first draft of the...
Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice
June 12, 2025
Etzel Cardeña, Aviva Berkovich-Ohana, Katja Valli et al.
11 citations
This article presents a taxonomy of altered states of consciousness, primarily based on their central phenomenological features. Following taxonomic principles and a modified Delphi methodology, a multidisciplinary, international group identified eight distinct phenomenological/behavioral states (some with subcategories): proto and transitional, delirium, minimal to no awareness, experiential...
International review of psychiatry (Abingdon, England)
2025
Bruno Angeli-Faez, Bruce Greyson, Pim van Lommel
3 citations
In this narrative review, we will critically assess whether the occurrence of near-death experience (NDE) associated with cardiac arrest (CA) may be explained by brain electrical activity or whether this empirical evidence supports an alternative theory, namely, that consciousness may persist and function beyond the brain. Empirical evidence suggests that NDEs associated with CA likely arise...
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
August 1, 2024
Marina Weiler, David J Acunzo, Philip J. Cozzolino et al.
10 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are subjective phenomena during which individuals feel disembodied or perceive themselves as outside of their physical bodies, often resulting in profound and transformative effects. In particular, experiencers report greater heightened pro-social behavior, including more peaceful relationships, tolerance, and empathy. Drawing parallels with the phenomenon of ego...
Frontiers in Psychology
June 13, 2024
Marieta Pehlivanova, Marina Weiler, Bruce Greyson
2 citations
Introduction Belief in psi, which includes psychic phenomena such as extra-sensory perception and post-mortem survival, is widespread yet controversial. According to one of the leading and perhaps most tested hypotheses, high belief in psi can be explained by differences in various aspects of cognition, including cognitive styles. Most of this research has been conducted with lay individuals....
Journal of Near-Death Studies
2024
Natasha Tassell-Matamua, Antti Savinainen, Bruce Greyson
Article describing life review accounts as included in the writings of the Theosophy movement, from the 1800s and 1900s.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
December 28, 2023
Bruce Greyson
5 citations
Modern research on near-death experiences (NDEs), powerful spiritual experiences triggered by a close brush with death, has focused on experiences characterized by profound positive feelings, ranging from incredible peace and calmness to bliss and ecstasy. However, throughout history there have been accounts of frightening deathbed visions and terrifying journeys to a hellish realm peopled by...
Journal of Near-Death Studies
2023
Bruce Greyson
3 citations
Article describing human and animal consciousness and how both humans and animals experience near-death experiences and how they interact with each other's close to death moments psychologically and spiritually.
Journal of Near-Death Studies
2023
Bruce Greyson
1 citation
Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been known for millennia and studied rigorously for the past 50 years.In that time, scholars have developed comprehensive tabulations of NDEs' commonly associated physical circumstances, phenomenological features, and aftereffects, as well as quantitative scales to measure the occurrence and depth of NDEs.Yet despite this extensive research literature, no one...
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
March 29, 2022
Bruce Greyson
22 citations
Abstract The aim of this study was to compare attitude changes reported by people who described near-death experiences (NDEs) at two periods two decades apart, to ascertain whether the attitude changes persisted over time. Participants completed the Life Changes Inventory (LCI) upon entry into the study and again two decades later, and the NDE Scale to quantify depth of the experience....
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
February 18, 2022
Sam Parnia, Stephen G. Post, Matthew T. Lee et al.
68 citations
An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become...
Mortality
January 27, 2022
Marieta Pehlivanova, A. Carroll, Bruce Greyson
15 citations
ABSTRACT Death is a common existential concern, and fear of death is widespread at subclinical levels. Near-death experiences (NDEs) are profound mystical experiences that may occur close to death, and they are usually followed by dramatic reductions in fear of death. The content of these experiences varies in each case, but NDEs tend to have common features among individuals and across...
The Journal of near-death studies
2022
Bruce Greyson, Pim van Lommel, Peter Fenwick
4 citations
Invited commentary discussing interpretation of brainwave recordings taken of an elderly patient who suffered a cardiac arrest and it's relationship to near-death experiences.
The Journal of near-death studies
2021
Bruce Greyson
7 citations
Article responding to criticism of the author's book regarding research in near-death experiences (NDEs) and clarifying that psychedelic molecules may be a factor in some NDEs but is only one factor and not relevant to all NDEs.
Journal of Near-Death Studies
2021
Bruce Greyson
: Some features of near-death experiences (NDEs) suggest that con sciousness may continue to function after death of the body. The life reviews of some NDEs include what seem to be memories of a past lifetime, some of which involve verifiable details, suggesting that the experiencer has lived more than one life and can recall events from successive lives. These apparent past life memories...
Consciousness and Cognition
November 1, 2020
Charlotte Martial, Jessica Simon, Ninon Puttaert et al.
69 citations
As interest grows in near-death experiences (NDEs), it is increasingly important to accurately identify them to facilitate empirical research and reproducibility among assessors. We aimed (1) to reassess the psychometric properties of the NDE scale developed by Greyson (1983) and (2) to validate the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale that quantifies NDEs in a more complete way....
2020
Edward F. Kelly, Emily Williams Kelly, Adam Crabtree et al.
145 citations
https://userpages.umbc.edu/~braude/ftp/pages/pdfs_pubd/braude--Review%20of%20Irreducible%20Mind%20opt2%20sm.pdf
Consciousness and Cognition
March 1, 2019
Charlotte Martial, Héléna Cassol, Vanessa Charland-Verville et al.
98 citations
The real or perceived proximity to death often results in a non-ordinary state of consciousness characterized by phenomenological features such as the perception of leaving the body boundaries, feelings of peace, bliss and timelessness, life review, the sensation of traveling through a tunnel and an irreversible threshold. Near-death experiences (NDEs) are comparable among individuals of...
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
August 20, 2018
Surbhi Khanna, Lauren E. Moore, Bruce Greyson
11 citations
A 54-year-old otherwise healthy man presented with altered mental status. On admission, the patient was confused and agitated, with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score of 11, suggesting moderate brain injury. He was sedated, placed on a ventilator, and started on tobramycin and ceftazidime for presumed bacterial meningitis, but switched to ceftriaxone once cultures returned as Escherichia coli....
Consciousness and Cognition
March 19, 2017
Lauren E. Moore, Bruce Greyson
46 citations
Near-death experiences are vivid, life-changing experiences occurring to people who come close to death. Because some of their features, such as enhanced cognition despite compromised brain function, challenge our understanding of the mind-brain relationship, the question arises whether near-death experiences are imagined rather than real events. We administered the Memory Characteristics...
Humanities
November 9, 2015
Bruce Greyson
31 citations
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are vivid experiences that often occur in life-threatening conditions, usually characterized by a transcendent tone and clear perceptions of leaving the body and being in a different spatiotemporal dimension. Such experiences have been reported throughout history in diverse cultures, and are reported today by 10% to 20% of people who have come close to death....
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
September 5, 2015
Surbhi Khanna, Bruce Greyson
37 citations
Posttraumatic growth denotes positive psychological change after a traumatic experience that is an improvement over the state before the trauma. Inasmuch as it involves existential reevaluation, posttraumatic growth overlaps with spiritual change, although it also encompasses other domains of positive outcome. This study investigated posttraumatic growth and presence and depth of near-death...