Near-Death Experiences 1975 – What Happens at the Brink of Death?

Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote: 

“Death does not turn out the light; it merely extinguishes the lamp because dawn has arrived.”

Scientists and those interested in the mystical aspects of life have long pondered the physical and mental transitions that occur at the brink of death.

In 1975, Dr Raymond Moody published a book containing case studies of people who had no vital signs – including some declared dead by their doctors – and later returned to life, entitled  Life After Life. After publication, the book became a bestseller. 

Some people had  NDEs, or  near-death experiences  (a term coined by Moody),  in which they felt they had left their bodies and floated towards the ceiling. During an NDE,  many people saw light at the end of a tunnel and felt peace or fear, sometimes followed by a loss of the fear of death. Some reported seeing doctors performing medical resuscitation.

• Some researchers suggest that NDEs provide evidence of life after death, or perhaps of consciousness moving away from the body. 
• Others explain such phenomena entirely in biological terms, suggesting that  the experiences are hallucinations caused by the brain being deprived of oxygen  (hypoxia)  or by excess carbon dioxide in the blood  (hypercarbia).
• Others have theorised that  endorphins  (brain chemicals) may create the euphoric feelings of NDEs.

Researchers are also experimenting with  the hallucinogen ketamine, which can produce an altered state of consciousness similar to an NDE. However, even if NDEs are hallucinations, experts study them to better understand their mechanism. This mechanism also has profound effects, often including lasting psychological effects on people who have had the experience. 

The idea of an NDE is, of course, not new. In the Republic, Plato tells the story of Er, a soldier who was killed and travelled towards  "a light as straight as a pillar, almost like a rainbow but brighter and purer" . Er then returns to life to spread news of another world. Hieronymus Bosch painted the astonishing work  Ascent to the Empyrean, depicting souls passing through a tunnel towards the light.

Description of the article image: Ascent of the Blessed (c. 1500), by Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516).

Historical figures mentioned in the article: Plato (428 BC – 348 BC), Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516), Raymond Moody (b. 1944)

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