Near-death experiences
Pim van LommelSam ParniaOlaf Blanke
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Some patients whose hearts stopped and who were then resuscitated report experiences such as a tunnel, bright light, watching themselves from outside the body and meeting deceased relatives. Some researchers think these point to consciousness possibly being independent of the brain; others explain them by lack of oxygen and activity in particular brain regions. They are also compared with accounts of the afterlife in most religions.
For specialists
In van Lommel and colleagues' prospective study of 344 cardiac-arrest patients, about 18% reported a near-death experience; its occurrence was not explained by medical factors such as duration of anoxia or drugs. The AWARE study (Parnia 2014) tested out-of-body claims during cardiac arrest with target images visible only from above; no verifiable recognition occurred, though one patient's auditory account was found consistent with the timing. Blanke and colleagues showed that electrical stimulation of the temporoparietal junction can produce out-of-body perceptions.
Claims
- Near-death experiences indicate that consciousness may continue when brain function has ceased.[1]
Evidence
Supporting
In a prospective study about 18% of cardiac-arrest patients reported a near-death experience, and its occurrence was not associated with medical variables.[1]
One patient's auditory account of events during cardiac arrest was reported to be consistent with the timing of recorded events.[2]
Connections
Sources
- Article (2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands. The Lancet 358, 2039–2045DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(01)07100-8archive
- Article (2014). AWARE — AWAreness during REsuscitation — a prospective study. Resuscitation 85(12), 1799–1805DOI 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2014.09.004archive
- Article (2002). Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature 419, 269–270DOI 10.1038/419269aarchive
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Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Near-death experiences. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/yakin-olum/
@misc{athena_yakin_olum,
title = {Near-death experiences},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/yakin-olum/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history