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...this period, between switch-off and resuscitation, that many researchers believe NDEs occur. "Many near-death experiencers describe heightened perceptions and clear thought processes, and form memories, at a time when the brain is incapable of coordinated activity," says Greyson, director of the University of Virginia's Division of Perceptual Studies. "Our current neurophysiological models can explain NDEs only if one ignores much of the empirical data...
...thousands of NDEs reported, none has done more to convince some researchers that the phenomenon's explanation must lie outside the square than the case of Pam Reynolds, an American who underwent brain surgery for an aneurysm in 1991. Preparation for Reynolds' operation included taping her eyes shut, blocking her ears and monitoring her EEG to ensure her brain was functioning at only the most basic level. Yet after coming around, Reynolds described not only a full-blown NDE but the bone saw that had been used to cut her skull...
...research. "I'm lecturing all over the world," he says. "I know all the skeptical questions and I love to answer them." In trying to account for NDEs, he's challenged ideas residing in the bedrock of science, including that consciousness and memories are localized in the brain. As astounding as it may be, he argues, the implication of NDEs is that consciousness can be experienced in some alternative dimension without our body-linked concepts of time and space. "In my view, the brain is not producing consciousness, but it enables us to experience our consciousness," he says. He compares...
...idea that the brain can be retuned to alternative states resonates with psychiatrist Jansen, who's written prolifically on how an NDE (or something closely resembling it) can be induced by an anesthetic drug, ketamine. That NDEs can be induced led him at first to suspect that the spontaneous type was similarly hallucinogenic. Now he's not so sure. Perhaps ketamine and brain stress simply make certain states more accessible. "All our realities are alternative realities," says Jansen. "Nobody sees the world in quite the same way as any other person...
...Jansen once wrote: "It's good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out." For many scientists, this scenario might account for the sort of speculation just summarized. While most researchers concede that there's a lot about NDEs we don't know, they reject the push to replace tried-and-tested paradigms with new (largely untestable) ones in an attempt to fill the gaps...