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Religious and physiological views of near-death experiences

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There are many viewpoints about near-death experiences from religious and physiological standpoints.

Religious Perspective

The NDE is often cited as evidence for the existence of the human soul and the afterlife, an idea that occurs in several religions. From a Christian perspective see articles on hell and heaven for some major themes however other topics arise by those of other religions and their experiences. Tibetan Buddhists have the 'delok' or 'delog' - one who travels a 'bardo' or tour of some of the realms of death. Studies have compiled NDEs of various religionists. Comparing these experiences arrives at a central finding - Jody Long, a near-death researcher with NDERF (Near Death Experience Research Foundation) summarizes the finding "One of the near-death experience truths is that each person integrates their near-death experience into their own pre-existing belief system." (Individual experiences are stored in the episodic memory.) Specifically in a particular study out of 267 individuals with NDEs, the largest category (119 or 44.6%) reported no change in their religion. However 55.1% did go through some kind of change - but the majority strengthened their prior religious beliefs, their sense of "spirituality" (defined as moving from the dogma of their religion to actually living the spirit of the religion), rather than change religions.[1]

Another perspective on NDE from a religious point of view can be drawn from what it says about the nature of the world - that information from another time and place, or the same time and place, could be understood from "here". This can be a kind of Déjà vu experience. In the writings of the Bahá'í Faith for example, there are quotes like "...perchance when ten years are gone, thou wilt witness in the outer world the very things thou hast dreamed tonight."[2] and "Behold how the thing which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized."[3]

It cannot be ruled out that, given the internal similarity of so many NDEs, the NDEs themselves may have given shape to many of the archetypal concepts of afterlife. This, unfortunately, is a "the chicken or the egg" debate, in which the object of the metaphor makes more sense than the original metaphor.


Physiological Theories

Skeptical commentators see NDEs as purely neurological and chemical phenomena occurring in the brain. From this perspective NDEs are the result of neurobiological mechanisms, related to such factors as anomalous temporal-lobe functioning, epilepsy, compression of the optic nerve (one possible cause of the tunnel sensation), chemical changes in the brain related to serotonin and endorphins, and general changes in brain functioning. [4]

The similarities amongst the experiences of many documented cases of NDE are understood by skeptics to signify that the pathology of the brain during the dying and reviving process is more or less the same in all humans, as suggested by Russian specialist Dr. Vladimir Negovsky. [5]

One example of how the process of brain death might produce an experience similar to an NDE is that those who undergo NDEs often feel as if they are traveling through a tunnel or narrow passageway. According to Jack Cowan, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago, brain activity that is normally kept stable is debilitated in the dying patient due to the lack of oxygen that the brain experiences when it nears death, generating stripes of activity that move across the cortex (1982). Using brain mapping, Cowan is able to demonstrate how the stripes in the cortex would appear like concentric rings or spirals, creating the visualization of tunnel-like patterns.

Skeptics believe that the contention that NDEs are proof of an afterlife is not scientific (Carey, 119), because the characteristic effects of an NDE are perceptible only to the experient, and so it is impossible for researchers to observe the phenomenon directly. Thus, the belief that NDEs are the beginning of an afterlife cannot be scientifically verified.

Studies supporting a naturalistic interpretation include the research of Blanke et al. (2002), published in Nature Magazine [1], who found that electrical stimulation of the brain region known as the right angular gyrus repeatedly caused a patient to have experiences somewhat similar to out-of-body experiences.[6] though the patient did not report seeing her own face, for example. Researchers have largely been unsuccessful in running proactive experiments to establish out-of-body consciousness. There have been numerous experiments in which a random message was placed in a hospital in a manner that it would be invisible to patients or staff yet visible to a floating being, but these experiments have provided no clear signs of ESP. (Blackmore, 1991) Michael Persinger who has also researched stimulation of the temporal lobes of the brain has also found evidence above chance levels for esp functioning within his experiements. [7]

One hypothesis used to explain NDEs was originally suggested by Dr. Karl Jansen (1995;1997) and deals with accounts of the side-effects of the drug Ketamine. Ketamine was used as an anesthetic on U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War, but its use was limited as the soldiers complained about sensations of floating above their body and seeing bright lights. (Ketamine is now employed variously in the UK and Europe as an 'emergency' anaesthetic, an animal tranquilliser and a recreational drug.) Further experiments by numerous researchers verified that intravenous injections of ketamine could reproduce all of the commonly cited features of an NDE; including a sense that the experience is "real" and that one is actually dead, separation from the body, visions of loved ones, and transcendent mystical experiences. Ketamine acts in part by blocking the NMDA receptor for the neurotransmitter glutamate. Glutamate is released in abundance when brain cells die, and if it weren't blocked, the glutamate overload would cause other brain cells to die as well. In the presence of excess glutamate, the brain releases its own NMDA receptor blocker to defend itself; and it is these blockers Dr. Jansen (amongst others) hypothesize as the cause of many NDEs.

Critics of Jansen's hypothesis point out that although some aspects of the experience may be similar, not all NDEs exactly fit the ketamine experience; and that while it might be possible to chemically simulate the experience, this does not refute the possibility that spontaneous NDEs have a spiritual component. As Dr. Jansen himself notes:

Claims that NDE's must have a single explanation [8], or that a scientific theory must explain all of the experiences ever given the name of NDE (e.g. Gabbard and Twemlow, 1989) are difficult to justify [9]

Indeed Dr. Jansen's own shifting perspective on the conclusions to be drawn from the ketamine-NDE analogy has been notable. He started out as an unequivocal debunker of the notion that NDE's are evidence of a spiritual (or at least transnormal) realm. But with time he has developed a more agnostic hypothesis: that ketamine may in fact be one particularly powerful trigger of authentic spiritual experiences - of which near-death may be another. In each case, according to Jansen's more recent pronouncements, all we can say is that the subject gets catapulted out of ordinary 'egoic' consciousness into an altered state - we cannot comfortably rule out the possibility that the 'worlds' disclosed in these 'trips' have ontological status. Latterly, therefore, Jansen's position appears closer to thinkers like Daniel Pinchbeck (2002), who has written a book on hallucinogenic shamanism, and other names like Carl Jung, Ken Wilber and Stanislav Grof, than to thinkers like Susan Blackmore or Nicholas Humphrey, who represent a skeptical position.

It is generally accepted that some people who reported NDEs were shown to have approached the clinical boundary between life and death. However, in support of a naturalistic interpretation of NDE's one infrequently argues that it is shown that the experiences themselves took place in any time other than just before the clinical death, or in the process of being revived. In altered states of consciousness such as this and during dream states or under the influence of drugs, the subjective perception of time is often dilated. It should also be noted that Susan Blackmore's "Dying Brain Hypothesis" has been soundly refuted by recent studies conducted in the Netherlands on the physiological mechanisms of a so-called dying brain. [citation needed]

New explanation model about Near-Death Experiences (NDEs)

Kinseher-Theory: All core elements of a classical NDE are explained by one model.

The permanent simulation of the future by our brain is the most important survival technology that keep us alive. But the brain need always an appropriate information from the memory, to adapt the feed-back reaction to the reality.

1) Most NDEs are started after a crucial experience e.g. when a patient can hear, that he is declared to be dead by a doctor or nurse, or when a person has the subjective impression to be in a fatal situation (´I will die´), e.g. during a near-miss automobile accident. The information ´I am dead/I will die´ is a paradox and invalid input for the feed-back control-unit of a living organism. Therefore the brain will start to collect appropriate information for this unusual situation.

2) The human brain has only a limited capacity to process information. This is called inattentional blindness. When his attention is mainly focused on the topic, to find a way out of the situation ´I am dead´, then unimportant sensory impressions are not observed. Therefore a sudden lack of pain is felt, additional a sensation of peace, love, calmness.

3) The ´Out of Body Experience´ (OBE) is part of the NDE, when a brain try to develop an idea about the present situation. Most of the patients are not able to move away. Therefore the brain will combine sensory impressions and knowledge from the memory into a dreamlike idea of the own situation. Then a person has the sensation to leave the body, to float like a ghost-being above it, to see at it and the surrounding area. General information of such a dream fit very well with the reality, but details are often wrong.

A second strategy of the brain (besides of the OBE) to collect suitable information, is a scan of the episodic memory. Parallel to the scan-activity, all the information of this memory is immediately evaluated with the present intellect (at the moment of a NDE). / During the Scan it is possible to observe the own brain, LIVE, how it is working - this is a thrilling experience.

4) A very unpleasant sound/noise is the first sensory impression, to be noticed during a NDE. After the 24th week of a pregnancy, when the inner ear is finished, the fetus can store acoustic experiences in his memory: usually heartbeat, voice, sounds of breathing and digestion of his mother. (The fetus was used to hear such noises. But when it is scanned and evaluated during a NDE it is felt as unpleasant.)

5) The optical sense (eye) is the next sense organ that gives information to the brain. This sense is developed until the 30th week of a pregnancy, then the eyes of a fetus are able to see light and to distinguish dark and light contrasts. / At first we see nothing (= black), then the optical sense develop its function (= a tiny white light can be seen), the more optical cells are working, the more light can be seen. Finally the complete eye is working => we are surrounded by a light. (This light can be seen radiating through the abdominal wall of the mother or it is the stored impression of neuronal flashes of the optical sense.) / These experiences of darkness and an increasing number of working optical cells are stored by our memory, like the single pictures of a film. During the memory-scan of a NDE - when we remind us of these pictures very speedy one after the other like in movie, then we have the impression to travel through a dark tunnel towards and into a light. / Sometimes this journey is accompanied by noises or even music, because the acoustic AND optical senses of the fetus are working now.

Dr. Moody wrote in the ´Life after Life´-chapter ´The light-being´, that the light was dull by his first appearance, but the light intensity rose very quick towards a supernatural brightness. => It might be, that this impression represent the optical experiences of a person before (dull light) and after birth (bright light).

6) Encountering with a bright white, shapeless, in-/visible and speaking ´being of light´ is one of the most fascinating experiences during a NDE. This being-of-light is seen as an overwhelming source of unconditional love, warmth, affection, shelter, safety and security. The ´being of light´ is often not felt as a person although it has obviously an individual characteristic personality. / Before and after birth, the eyes of a fetus/baby are only able to distinguish dark and light contrasts within a focus of 8 to 12 inch, but no details. / The prenatal fetus was under shelter in a warm place inside his mother. There the fetus was able to see light and to hear the mother, bot not to see her, => therefore the mother is interpreted during the NDE-memory-scan as a speaking ´being of light´. / After the birth, the new born baby is only able to see bright light, with no details outside the focus of the eyes. But it is able to hear a well known voice and to feel the warm love of his mother. Thus the mother (and other persons, who take care for the baby) is again felt as a ´being of light´ or a speaking ´light´, the source of love, warmth and affection.

A new born baby has no awareness of the own status! The baby does not know that it was born and is now under care of his mother. A new born child will now experience and enjoy for the first time in his life the unlimited, uncomparable emotions of being touched and loved by another person - although it cannot understand this. All these experiences and emotions are felt with immature sense organs and then stored in the episodic memory of the brain. Everything is evaluated by the existing intellect during a NDE, when the brain scans the memory.

7) In the first month of his life, a child has to learn the use of the eyes, to recognize persons and colours. During this training period, persons and animals outside the eye-focus might be seen as ghosts or semitransparent creatures. Garden, flower, buildings and landscapes might radiate in normal and/or hallucinogenic colours. => All these sensory impressions are stored in the memory of the brain.

(The eye-lenses of a baby are of a light blue colour and they are completely clear. During the years of life, the lenses become more and more dull and its colour change to a yellow colour. When we remind us (during a NDE-memory-scan) of a landscape, then our brain will use a correcting-factor => therefore the colours will be seen very bright and unreal.)

8) All information of the life-review are obviously from the episodic memory. Here it clearly can be seen, that the NDE contain a brain-generated scan. Reported encounters with living persons show, that a NDE is from our memory and no supernatural phenomenon. A person who is alive, will not exist in a next world at the same time. (A person can ´see´ during a NDE only experiences, ways of living, landscapes, persons and spiritual figures of the own culture, of stories which were heard and of copies/images which were seen.)

9) A NDE is finished a) when we remind us of experiences where we had been stopped by a warning cry (Stop!, Don't go on!, Come back!), b) when we decide, not to die (I don't want to die!, My family need me!), c) when we loose consciousness or d) when we fall asleep.

10) A NDE is saved in the memory as an experience. Therefore a second NDE usually will be started only by a different crucial experience.

It is possible to draw conclusions from the NDEs, seen according to the model above:

Our brain/mind consider us, to be an integrated person. Experiences can be stored and will be kept in the brain since the outer layer (cerebral cortex) is built up (20th to 24th week of a pregnancy). Acoustic experiences are stored when the inner ear is finished and the fibres of its connected neurons are covered by sheets of insulating myelin (24th week). / Information (experiences) are stored in- and retrieved back from the brain in temporal order. Thus the ´movement´ through the ´tunnel´ is a hint, that the optical system is developed step by step. / Neuro-scientists tell us, that our brain is constantly trying to construct meaningful narratives from what we see and experience. Therefore the first experiences of a fetus (voice/sound and light) are transformed into an invisible being-of-light. The same effect will happen with experiences of a new born baby, when a person is outside the eye-focus, while speaking. / It might be, that the event of the birth is not visible as an experience, during a NDE. / Persons and landscapes which were seen with the underdeveloped eyes of babies, seem to be brightened up or to have phantasmal colours, - when they were remembered during a NDE. The reason for this effect is a change in the transparency of the eye-lenses. People who have a NDE are old enough, to recognize colours (babies did not), additional the correcting-factor of the eye has changed. / Positive meetings with friendly persons (relatives) are predominant when people experience the life-review of a NDE.=> Our brain seem to prefer experiences (information), connected with positive emotions. / Some decisions where ´seen´ during a life-review, how the pros and cons where weighed up, and how the effect of the decision was. It seem to be necessary, that we have to learn a basement of moral standards, - otherwise we won't be able to weigh up a decision. / Some people who had a NDE (Moody: Life after Life) emphasize very much, how important it was for them to learn and to collect knowledge. - The wish to learn, seem to be an important brain-function. The US-scientist Irving Biedermann found out, that we are awarded by our brain with drugs, when we learn and when we collect information.

(Medical hint: An EEG is able to measure the brain activity of the cerebral cortex; but only on the surface, in a layer of 3 mm depth. Therefore a person need not to have lost his consciousness even when the EEG show a flat-line. (from: Welt der Wunder 09/2007, Dossier Mystica, page 58).)

There have been many dedicated spiritualists that have been debunkers of NDEs. In addition, science tries to answer the 'how' and 'what' questions and science should not stop people from believing in the personal level of NDEs (Bruce Greyson), (NDE.com) (bbc.com.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ Near-Death Experience, Religion, and Spirituality by Jody Long.
  2. ^ The Valley of Wonderment
  3. ^ LXXIX: As to thy question concerning the worlds ...
  4. ^ Mauro, 1992; Britton and Bootzin, 2004
  5. ^ Pravda, 2004
  6. ^ [http://www.cancerpage.com/news/article.asp?id=4883
  7. ^ Persinger, Michael M. (2001). The neuropsychiatry of paranormal experiences Neuropsychiatric Practice and Opinion, 13(4), 521-522.
  8. ^ Ring, 1980
  9. ^ Jansen, 1995


Literature: Kinseher Richard, Geborgen in Liebe und Licht - Gemeinsame Ursache von Intuition, Déjà-vu-, Schutzengel- und Nahtod-Erlebnissen. BoD, 2006, ISBN 3-8334-51963

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