Recalled Experience of Death: transcending the cerebrocentric model of consciousness
Armando Henrique Norman, Gabriela Bley Jacob
Interface: Comunicação, Saúde, Educação November 5, 2024 DOI: 10.1590/interface.230627 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Non-systematic review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Spirituality Conscience Epistemology Family practice |
| Key findings | Recalled Experience of Death phenomena occur during clinical death and challenge the concept of consciousness as an epiphenomenon of brain activity, suggesting a non-local, organismic model of consciousness. |
Abstract
To explore the scientific approach to Recalled Experience of Death (RED) and correlate it with the philosophical foundations of Family and Community Medicine to expand the understanding of the human consciousness. Non-systematic review on PubMed database for relevant “prospective studies” on “near-death experience”. Five prospective studies documented RED phenomenon occurrences during clinical death. RED-studies strengthen an organismic model of existence and challenge consciousness concept as epiphenomenon of brain activities. This prompts a new understanding of mind-brain relationship inspired by quantum mechanics unified informational field, i.e., consciousness as non-local. This knowledge can help healthcare professionals in dealing with patients with existential problems as in mental health, palliative care, and spiritual issues. RED-studies epitomise a pre-paradigmatic stage in the construction of a new concept of human consciousness in relation to the brain.