Enhancement of perceptual and cognitive functions in near-death experience: A perspective from embodiment theories.
Omid Khatin-Zadeh, Zahra Eskandari, Danyal Farsani, Hassan Banaruee
Explore (New York, N.Y.) 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2024.103069 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | People who have experienced a near-death event |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Embodiment Iconic gesture Metaphoric gesture |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Iconic and metaphoric gestures occur significantly more often with expressions referring to NDE events than with those referring to ordinary events, suggesting stronger embodied memory for NDE events. |
Abstract
The phenomenon of near-death experience (NDE) is attracting a growing attention among researchers of various fields. In this study, we looked at NDE from a cognitive perspective to find out how NDE events are embodied when people recall and describe them. We examined the descriptions of a group of people talking about what they had experienced in the state of NDE. Based on the gesture-as-simulated-action theory, we assumed that co-speech gestures occurring when people were talking about their experiences were physical realizations of mentally-simulated events. The results showed that the number of iconic and metaphoric gestures occurring with expressions referring to NDE events was significantly larger than those occurred with expressions referring to ordinary events. Based on these results, we suggest that embodied memory for NDE events is stronger than embodied memory for ordinary non-NDE events. NDE events are perceived, recalled, and embodied by strong activation of sensorimotor systems in a state of perceptual and cognitive enhancement, although sensorimotor systems seem to be unresponsive to sensory stimuli during NDE. Finally, based on theories of embodied cognition, we conclude that the enhancement of cognitive functions that takes place in the state of NDE is the result of enhancement in perceptual functions.