Near-death experience: memory recovery during hypnosis.
Explore 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2024.103036 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Case study Case report Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 1 |
| Population | A 41-year-old woman who experienced cardiac arrest during childbirth |
| Intervention | hypnotic regression therapy |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Cardiac arrest Consciousness Hypnosis Memory Pre-cognition Transformation |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | Hypnotic regression revealed verifiable details of events during cardiac arrest that could not have been perceived through the five senses, supporting the possibility that NDEs occur more often than recalled. |
Abstract
Increasing numbers of research studies have offered evidence regarding awareness of verified events during near-death experiences (NDEs) occurring during cardiac arrest and severely impaired brain function. The prevalence of patients reporting core NDEs under these conditions is reported as 10-12 %. One question that is often asked is why this percentage is low. Though it may be hypothesized that NDEs are limited to this low percentage of patients, it is also possible that more patients experience an NDE, but that memory is impaired sufficiently such that the NDE is not recalled. In this article I present a detailed and extensively verified case study of a woman, Stephanie Arnold, who experienced an NDE during the birth of her second child when she was 41 years old. The data provide evidence that supports the hypotheses 1) that during cardiac arrest an NDE may occur, but not be remembered until hypnotic regression therapy reveals extensive details of the events that could not have been perceived with the five senses, both in the operating room and elsewhere during resuscitation. 2) that there may also be pre-cognition of the events leading to the cardiac arrest, reported in clear detail, and 3) that NDEs lead to a fundamental transformation in an individual's understanding of the nature of consciousness, their quest for meaning and purpose, their concern for others, and their appreciation of life.
Comparable studies
Other case reports and case series on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near-Death Experiences in India Individuals in India who reported near-death experiences | 1986 | Case study | n = 16 |
| The Near-Death Experience as a Focus of Clinical Attention Patients presenting with near-death experience-related problems | 1997 | Case study | n = 4 |
| A prospectively studied near-death experience with corroborated out-of-body perceptions and unexplained healing. A person who had a near-death experience | 2006 | Case report | n = 1 |
| Verified account of near-death experience in a physician who survived cardiac arrest. A 32-year-old female physician experiencing childbirth | 2020 | Case study | n = 1 |
| This is your brain on death: a comparative analysis of a near-death experience and subsequent 5-Methoxy-DMT experience. An individual who had a near-death experience during a coma caused by bacterial... | 2023 | Case study | n = 1 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- The veridical Near-Death Experience Scale: construction and a first validation with human and artificial raters Frontiers in Psychology October 16, 2025
- The intertwining of death and life: a hermeneutic phenomenological investigation of near-death experiences among coma survivors. BMC Psychology September 29, 2025
Cites 18
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- The Near-Death Experience Scale The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1983
- Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion December 1, 1987
- Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit General Hospital Psychiatry July 1, 2003
- Characteristics of Near-Death Experiences Memories as Compared to Real and Imagined Events Memories PLoS One March 27, 2013
and 13 more in the library