nHC Position Paper
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) March 22, 2026 DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19163585 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that near-death experiences, coma, general anaesthesia, and psychedelic states share reduced or ceased Default Mode Network activity, which permits an underlying continuous consciousness to surface; the DMN ordinarily filters and narrates this awareness, and its return retrospectively translates the experience through culturally and personally conditioned memory, which the author contends explains cross-cultural variation in near-death narratives. The author calls for empirical neuroimaging investigation of this framework, including imaging of the author's own brain. |
Abstract
Abstract This position paper proposes a unifying framework—termed Natural Human Consciousness (nHC)—to account for the puzzling persistence of conscious experience during near-death experiences (NDEs), coma states, general anaesthesia, and psychedelic states. The central thesis holds that what these diverse altered states share is a significant reduction or cessation of Default Mode Network (DMN) activity, which allows an underlying, continuous form of consciousness to surface. This consciousness is not generated by the DMN but is ordinarily filtered, narrated, and interpreted by it. When the DMN falls silent, raw experiential awareness emerges—clear, non-conceptual, and sensorially vivid. Upon the return of DMN function, the experience is retrospectively translated through culturally and personally conditioned memory structures, which accounts for the well-documented cross-cultural variation in NDE narratives. This paper is grounded in both scientific literature and the author’s sustained first-person experience of living without an active DMN for over seven years. A call is made for empirical investigation of this framework, which poses no ethical risk and could be initiated through neuroimaging of the author’s brain.