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...
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.
Religious experience is very common in the population and there are many studies of mystical or religious experience. There is as yet no explanation of religious experience that satisfies both those who have had the experiences and those who seek a scientific basis for them. The problem for neuropsychiatry is that there appears to be no place in the brain for consciousness or mind. The chapter...
Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) survivors experience cognitive deficits including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear whether these are related to cognitive/mental experiences and awareness during CPR. Despite anecdotal reports the broad range of cognitive/mental experiences and awareness associated with CPR has not been systematically studied. Methods: The incidence and...
Cardiac arrest is associated with a number of cognitive processes as well as long term psychological outcomes. Recent studies have indicated that approximately 10-20% of cardiac arrest survivors report cognitive processes, including the ability to recall specific details of their resuscitation from the period of cardiac arrest. In addition it has been demonstrated that these cognitive processes...
Article discussing veridical out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and healing occurring during near-death experiences (NDEs). The article reports a case in which there was strong evidence for both healing and a veridical OBE.
Spirituality is increasingly acknowledged in medicine as a legitimate topic of instruction and focus of research. I highlight some findings of my own and others' retrospective research on near-death experiences (NDEs), review recent prospective research by myself and others, and describe veridical perception research I plan to undertake. After reviewing findings regarding approaching-death...
During lucid dreaming, a subject willed movements of his fingers, toes and feet, remembered tasks, and counted sensory stimuli. Dreamed speech was related to respiration. EMG activity corresponding to dreamed actions was greater in flexor than in extensor limb muscles and was never present in axial muscles.