Near death experiences 'tricks of the mind'

Near-death experiences are all in the mind, and are not linked to paranormal phenomena, according to a study.

UK psychologists who reviewed a range of phenomena such as out-of-body experiences, visions of tunnels of light or encounters with dead relatives, say they are tricks of the mind rather than a glimpse of the afterlife, and are triggered by a change in normal brain function.

Most of these experiences can be explained by a reaction in the brain prompted by a traumatic and sometimes harmless event, said the researchers from Edinburgh and Cambridge Universities.

Out-of-body experiences, for example, may happen when there is a breakdown in the brain’s multi-sensory processes, and visions of tunnels and bright lights could stem from a breakdown in the brain’s visual system caused by oxygen deprivation.

Caroline Watt, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, said: "Some of the studies we examined show that many of the people experiencing a near-death experience were not actually in danger of dying, although most thought they were.

"The scientific evidence suggests that all aspects of the near-death experience have a biological basis."

The new study, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, also suggests that noradrenaline, a hormone released by the mid-brain which, when triggered, may evoke positive emotions, hallucinations and other features of the near-death experience.

Approximately three per cent of the US population say they have had a near-death experience, according to a Gallup poll.

Near-death experiences are reported across cultures and can be found in literature dating back to ancient Greece.

This article was published on Mon 31 October 2011