Is this definitive proof that the sensation of an out-of-body experience (and more generally any kind of NDE) is closely linked to brain function, that everything comes from the brain? Some refute that notion, but their arguments are scientifically weak.
In an effort to disprove "magical" explanations, the Coma Science Group, in collaboration with the ULg's Cognitive Psychology Unit, initiated research to explore the neuroanatomical aspect of NDEs in patients who survived cardiac arrest and who have gone through a coma from other etiologies. The researchers are using a broad array of methods: structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI and fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), high-density electroencephalography, and standardised neuropsychological evaluations. They hypothesise that each element of an NDE - tunnel and light, symbiosis with the cosmos, OBEs, etc. - can be attributed to an altered or modified functioning of a specific part of the brain resulting from a head injury or anoxia related to a heart attack, for example.
The research subject is required to have "experienced" some but not all of the characteristic features of NDEs to be included in the study. As previously mentioned, out-of-body experiences occur in about one third of all cases, as do seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel and watching life flash before one's eyes. In other words, all NDEs are not the same.
Life after life
Given the chaotic circumstances in which NDEs occur, it's almost impossible to study them as they happen. Therefore the ULg researchers are seeking to establish a link between the reported characteristics of near-death experiences and possible residual brain lesions that are likely to be responsible for the unusual experiences they describe. "The sensitivity of neuroimaging techniques allows us to look for tiny scars, the slightest epileptic activity, small oedemas, or even small blood deposits that could suggest the presence of microlesions in a particular area of the brain, even years after an NDE episode," explains Steven Laureys.
Some unsettling things have been claimed about certain NDEs. For instance, there are accounts of patients who, after their resuscitation, were able to recount the conversations and activities of the medical staff who kept them alive and could even describe what was happening in adjacent rooms. However, these isolated narratives hold little scientific weight; credibility is based on a controlled scientific method and the law of numbers. We must distinguish between statistical chance, unscientific interpretations, and fraud, all the more so because NDEs have sometimes inspired claims by well intentioned cranks or paved the way for profit-minded opportunists. Some will claim to be able to speak to fairies, while others will teach you how to learn about your past lives... Manipulation? Self-persuasion? The results of the University of Liège study on the characteristics of NDE memories published in PLoS One shed some light on the question.
The hand of God?
For some, NDEs prove the existence of life after death. Hence the title of American psychiatrist Raymond Moody's bestseller: Life After Life (1975). Whatever one's beliefs about the soul and the afterlife, it must be obvious that this reasoning is built on shifting sands. By definition, none of the people who reported an NDE died during their unusual experience; otherwise they wouldn't be alive to tell their story. Consequently, NDEs don't allow us to draw the slightest conclusion about an afterlife, which we each remain free to believe in or not.
Yet it is not only believers who have experienced NDEs and emerge convinced of the existence of God. There have also been cases of atheists who convert after an NDE, and believers who don't see the hand of God at work in their NDE. "Nevertheless, NDE memories are usually affected by the person's basic cultural, philosophical, and religious backgrounds," indicates Vanessa Charland-Verville, FNRS research fellow, PhD candidate in medical sciences, and co-first author of the PLoS One article. "Though the experience of a brilliant light is reported by ‘experiencers’ of all cultures, some variations have been observed in terms of how different elements are perceived. For example, Buddhists might describe a river rather than a tunnel, whereas Muslims might describe a large door; Hindus will report seeing a sage turning the pages of a book, while Catholics can experience the beings of light as angels."
