Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Manner of Speaking]

Study explains near-death sensation


Apr 18, 2006

The brain's tendency to occasionally blur the line between sleep and wakefulness may help explain the phenomenon of near-death experience, preliminary research suggests. It has been an open question as to why some people see bright light, feel detached from their bodies or have other extraordinary sensations when they are close to dying or believe they might die.


Some people view these so-called near-death experiences as evidence of life after death, and many neurologists have considered the phenomenon too complex for scientific study. But the new research, published in the journal Neurology, implicates the blending of sleep and wake states as a biological cause of near-death experiences.


Researchers found that adults who said they'd had such an experience were also likely to have a history of what's called REM intrusion - where aspects of the dream state of sleep spill over into wakefulness. People may, for example, feel paralyzed when they first wake up, or have visual or auditory hallucinations as they fall asleep or awaken.


Of the 55 study participants who'd had a near-death experience, 60 percent had also experienced REM intrusion at some point in their lives. That compared with 24 percent of 55 adults who served as a comparison group. The findings suggest that the brain's arousal system predisposes some people to both REM intrusion and near-death experience, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Kevin R. Nelson, a neurologist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.



This arousal system, Nelson explained in an interview, regulates not only REM sleep, but also attention and alertness during waking hours - including during dangerous situations. And many of the features of REM intrusions, he said, parallel those of near-death experience. During REM sleep, visual centers in the brain are highly active, while the limb muscles are temporarily paralysed. So REM intrusion during peril could promote the visions of light and sensation of "being dead" that people often have during a near-death experience, according to Nelson.


Other evidence supports a role for REM intrusion in near-death experiences, he said. One important fact, Nelson noted, is that stimulation of the vagus nerve, which connects the brain stem to the heart, lungs and intestines, triggers REM intrusion. And heightened activity in this nerve is sure to be part of the body's "fight-or-flight" response to danger.


Still, Nelson said he doesn't think REM intrusion will turn out to be the "whole explanation" for near-death experience, and the findings shouldn't detract from the meaning people have taken from their experiences. "My work is spiritually neutral," Nelson said, noting that the research can only look at how the brain contributes to near-death experience, and not why the phenomenon occurs.



"The 'why' can't be addressed by scientific inquiry," he said.


SOURCE: Neurology, April 11, 2006.

[Tiger Beer]

[Manner of Speaking]

I used to think that dreams were something that you can learn from, but I now think that most dreams are largely a neurological, not a psychological, phenomenon. Before waking up, I often have a dream that I am in a large building or some other complex place with many rooms, and I am trying to get outside; I keep opening one door, which leads to another office, and another door, and so on. I don't think the dream really MEANS anything, I just think there must be some kind of neuron firing that happens just before I wake up, that gives me this sensation.

I also sometimes have auditory hallucinations just as I am about to fall asleep. One time, I heard what sounded like a large stack of dishes fall to the floor and crash, but when I woke up and looked around, there was nothing there.

[Manner of Speaking]

I remember also a few occasions when I was living at home, when my mother would wake me up suddenly to ask me something, and I'd have difficulty speaking for a second or two. Like it would take a moment for the parts of the brain controlling speech to "fire up" or something.

[Big_Bird]

[Manner of Speaking]

I don't drink.

[mithridates]

[Manner of Speaking]

In university, my major was Geography, and I've often wondered if it would be possible to study the phenomenon of dreaming from a geographic/public health perspective. For example, take a medium-sized city, obtain 100 to 1000 volunteers -- a representative sample of that city's population -- and ask them to keep a dream journal for, say, six months or one year.

If the human brain is just as active when it is asleep as it is when it is awake, it would be interesting to study dreams and dreaming from a population health perspective and to see if there are any patterns in the dreams of whole populations.

For example, some scientists say that people have more vivid dreams when there is a higher percentage of ozone in the air, so -- presumably -- people dream more often, or more vividly, after thunderstorms.

[Xerxes]

[Manner of Speaking]

Actually,

[Tiger Beer]

REM intrusion.. the latest word i've heard for sleep paralysis or old hag syndrom.

Nice word. Kinda curious how many people really really experienced it.. some people think they have.. but its really vivid and really real when you do.

Here is a little bit about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis

But you can actually see your room (I have).. but demons or something comes in.. you are frozen and can't move.. I've had demons or clowns.. real weird. You can actually see them, hear them, and definetely feel/experience them. Most literature on the past usually describes an old hag which sits on the person who is paralyzed.. can usually see the room and visual and auditory hallucinations. When you finally become 'unfrozen' or 'unparalyzed' they disapear. Its so incredibly real though.. absolutely bizarre. The whole experience will last 1-2 minutes but because you are aware of everything and can see your room and the being(s) and completely unable to do anything - body is frozen.. feels like you might never get unfrozen again.

Cool 1781 painting of a 'night terror' as they also sometimes call them..

[Xerxes]

Umm, not to make a personal attack (it's actually quite funny), Tiger Beer's handle and the words morphine in his av would tend to support my call for more research into selecting the right candidates for the research.

I will read the original though I am between work now.