Western Scientific Approaches to Near-Death Experiences
Humanities November 9, 2015 DOI: 10.3390/h4040775 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Citations | 31 |
| Key findings | Near-death experiences show invariant phenomenology across cultures, and are consistently linked to profound aftereffects. |
Abstract
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are vivid experiences that often occur in life-threatening conditions, usually characterized by a transcendent tone and clear perceptions of leaving the body and being in a different spatiotemporal dimension. Such experiences have been reported throughout history in diverse cultures, and are reported today by 10% to 20% of people who have come close to death. Although cultural expectations and parameters of the brush with death influence the content of some NDEs, near-death phenomenology is invariant across cultures. That invariance may reflect universal psychological defenses, neurophysiological processes, or actual experience of a transcendent or mystical domain. Research into these alternative explanations has been hampered by the unpredictable occurrence of NDEs. Regardless of the causes or interpretations of NDEs, however, they are consistently associated with profound and long-lasting aftereffects on experiencers, and may have important implications for non-experiencers as well.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distressing Near-Death Experiences | 1992 | Review | |
| Attitude Change Following Near-Death Experiences Individuals who have had near-death experiences | 1980 | Review | n = 21 |
| Near-death experiences. | 2004 | Review | |
| The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences | 2009 | Review | |
| Near-death experiences in cardiac arrest survivors | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 14
- Defining Transformative Experiences: A Conceptual Analysis Frontiers in Psychology June 24, 2022
- Making Sense of Near-Death Experience Research: Circumstance Specific Alterations of Consciousness Anthropology of Consciousness March 1, 2019
- Explanation of near-death experiences: a systematic analysis of case reports and qualitative research. Frontiers in Psychology 2023
- Full Neurological Recovery From Escherichia coli Meningitis Associated With Near-Death Experience The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease August 20, 2018
- The living experience of surviving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and spiritual meaning making. Nursing Open August 1, 2023
and 9 more in the library
Cites 70
- 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
- The Near-Death Experience Scale The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1983
- 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
and 65 more in the library