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Migraine aura, a predictor of near-death experiences in a crowdsourced study.

Daniel Kondziella, Markus Harboe Olsen, Coline L. Lemale, Jens P Dreier

PeerJ 2019 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8202 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Cross-sectional survey Peer reviewed
Sample size 1,037
Population Laypeople aged 18 years or older recruited via a crowdsourcing platform from 35 countries and five continents
Topics Near-death experience
Keywords Cardiac arrest Coma Consciousness Intensive care Migraine aura Out-of-body experience Spreading depolarization
Citations 17
Key findings Migraine aura was a significant predictor of near-death experiences, with an odds ratio of 2.33 after adjustment for age and gender.

Abstract

Near-death experiences (NDE) occur with imminent death and in situations of stress and danger but are poorly understood. Evidence suggests that NDE are associated with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep intrusion, a feature of narcolepsy. Previous studies further found REM abnormalities and an increased frequency of dream-enacting behavior in migraine patients, as well as an association between migraine with aura and narcolepsy. We therefore investigated if NDE are more common in people with migraine aura. We recruited 1,037 laypeople from 35 countries and five continents, without any filters except for English language and age ≥18 years, via a crowdsourcing platform. Reports were validated using the Greyson NDE Scale. Eighty-one of 1,037 participants had NDE (7.8%; CI [6.3-9.7%]). There were no significant associations between NDE and age (p > 0.6, t-test independent samples) or gender (p > 0.9, Chi-square test). The only significant association was between NDE and migraine aura: 48 (6.1%) of 783 subjects without migraine aura and 33 (13.0%) of 254 subjects with migraine aura had NDE (p < 0.001, odds ratio (OR) = 2.29). In multiple logistic regression analysis, migraine aura remained significant after adjustment for age (p < 0.001, OR = 2.31), gender (p < 0.001, OR = 2.33), or both (p < 0.001, OR = 2.33). In our sample, migraine aura was a predictor of NDE. This indirectly supports the association between NDE and REM intrusion and might have implications for the understanding of NDE, because a variant of spreading depolarization (SD), terminal SD, occurs in humans at the end of life, while a short-lasting variant of SD is considered the pathophysiological correlate of migraine aura.

Comparable studies

Other cross-sectional and survey studies on near-death experience, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Fantasy Proneness Correlates With the Intensity of Near-Death Experience Individuals who have experienced a near-death experience (classical or NDE-like) and... 2018 Cross-sectional survey n = 228
A systematic analysis of distressing near-death experience accounts Individuals who had a near-death experience and wrote down their account 2019 Cross-sectional study n = 123
Reduced death threat in near-death experiencers Adults who had near-death experiences, came close to death without NDE, or never came... 1992 Cross-sectional study n = 290
Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population Psychiatric outpatients 2003 Cross-sectional survey n = 832
Near-Death States Reported in a Sample of 50 Misusers Previous ketamine misusers who reported a ketamine-related near-death experience 2010 Cross-sectional survey n = 50

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