A nice image from southern California, where I was born and raised, suggestive of a tunnel with light at the end. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Below, I share three passages from Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience<\/em> (New York: HarperCollins, 2010). \u00a0Dr. van Lommel is a Dutch cardiologist.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Various naturalistic explanations have been proposed for the phenomena reported in accounts of near-death experiences. \u00a0Here are Dr. van Lommel\u2019s responses to two of them:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because low doses of ketamine, a drug formerly used as an anesthetic, can cause hallucinations, it has been postulated that this kind of substance is released in the brain during a period of stress or oxygen deficiency. \u00a0Ketamine produces hallucinations because it blocks certain receptors (NMDA) in the brain. \u00a0A small quantity of ketamine gives some people a sense of detachment from the body or tunnel experiences. \u00a0There are no known reports of an encounter with deceased persons or of a life review, nor have there been reports of positive changes [in life, which are common after NDEs]. \u00a0Ketamine usually causes such frightful and bizarre images, which are recognized as hallucinations, that research subjects prefer not to have the substance administered a second time. \u00a0Because naturally occurring ketaminelike substances have never been found in the brain, this potential explanation must be abandoned. \u00a0However, we cannot rule out that in some cases the blockade or malfunction of NMDA receptors may play a role in the experience of an NDE. \u00a0(118-119)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the first attempts at explaining an NDE was based on the fact that stress releases endorphins. \u00a0These are morphines occurring naturally in the body in small quantities, which function as neurotransmitters. \u00a0They are released in large quantities during stress. \u00a0Endorphins can indeed get rid of pain and cause a sense of peace and well-being. \u00a0However, the effects of endorphins usually last several hours whereas the absence of pain and the sense of peace during an NDE vanish immediately after regaining consciousness. \u00a0Endorphins also fail to explain other elements of an NDE. \u00a0(119)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another relevant consideration:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
During a cardiac arrest the cerebral cortex, thalamus, hippocampus, and brain stem as well as all connections between them stop functioning . . . which prevents information from being integrated and differentiated \u2014 \u00a0a prerequisite for communication and thus for the experience of consciousness. \u00a0The experience of consciousness should be impossible during a cardiac arrest. \u00a0All measurable electrical activity in the brain has been extinguished and all bodily and brain-stem reflexes are gone. \u00a0And yet, during this period of total dysfunction, some people experience a heightened and enhanced consciousness, known as an NDE. \u00a0(195)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Below, I share three passages from Pim van Lommel, Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (New York: HarperCollins, 2010). \u00a0Dr. van Lommel is a Dutch cardiologist. \u00a0 Various naturalistic explanations have been proposed for the phenomena reported in accounts of near-death experiences. \u00a0Here are Dr. van Lommel\u2019s responses to two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1727,1008,1011,900,903,62,138,2113],"class_list":["post-64233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-afterlife","tag-immortality","tag-life-after-death","tag-nde","tag-near-death-experience","tag-religion-and-science","tag-science-and-religion","tag-van-lommel"],"yoast_head":"\n
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