Near-Death Experience, Consciousness, and the Brain: A New Concept about the Continuity of Our Consciousness Based on Recent Scientific Research on Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest
World Futures 2006 DOI: 10.1080/02604020500412808 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Prospective study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Survivors of cardiac arrest in the Netherlands |
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 65 |
| Key points | Physiological, psychological, or pharmacological factors did not cause near-death experiences after cardiac arrest. |
Abstract
In this article first some general aspects of near-death experience will be discussed, followed by questions about consciousness and its relation to brain function. Details will be described from our prospective study on near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest in the Netherlands, which was published in the Lancet in 2001. In this study it could not be shown that physiological, psychological, or pharmacological factors caused these experiences after cardiac arrest. Neurophysiology in cardiac arrest and in a normal functioning brain will be explained. Finally, implications for consciousness studies will be discussed, and how it could be possible to explain the continuity of our consciousness. Scientific study of NDE pushes us to the limits of our medical and neurophysiologic ideas about the range of human consciousness and mind–brain relation.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands Cardiac patients successfully resuscitated after cardiac arrest in ten Dutch hospitals | 2001 | Prospective cohort study | n = 344 |
| Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit Cardiac inpatients at a tertiary care center | 2003 | Observational cohort | n = 1,595 |
| Features of "near-death experience" in relation to whether or not patients were near death Patients who believed they were near death during an illness or after an injury and... | 1990 | Observational cohort | n = 58 |
| The phenomenology of near-death experiences Subjects who reported near-death experiences | 1980 | Retrospective study | n = 78 |
| Near-Death Experiences and the Temporal Lobe Individuals who reported having had a near-death experience during a life-threatening... | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 15
- Near death experiences: a multidisciplinary hypothesis Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2013
- The Return of Perennial Perspectives? Why Transpersonal Psychology Should Remain Open to Essentialism International Journal of Transpersonal Studies September 1, 2017
- Informational Model of Consciousness: From Philosophic Concepts to an Information Science of Consciousness Philosophy Study April 28, 2019
- The phenomenology of the self-conscious mind. Journal of Near-Death Studies 2008
- Near-Death Experiences and Religious Experience: An Exploration of Spirituality in Medicine Religions February 11, 2022
and 10 more in the library
Cites 7
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- Incidence and correlates of near-death experiences in a cardiac care unit General Hospital Psychiatry July 1, 2003
- Features of "near-death experience" in relation to whether or not patients were near death The Lancet November 1, 1990
- Orchestrated Reduction of Quantum Coherence in Brain Microtubules: A Model of Consciousness The MIT Press eBooks March 26, 1996
and 2 more in the library