Doctors in hospitals in Britain and the United States have embarked on a 3-year a study into out-of-body experiences (OOBEs) reported by patients who come close to death.
The aim of the study - which will involve examining the recollections of 1,500 patients who survive heart attacks - is to investigate the claims frequently made by those who "come back from the dead" after their heart stops and brain activity ceases. Such patients typically report hovering above themselves or seeing bright lights and tunnels.
Researchers have put images on shelves in participating hospitals that can only be seen from a position close to the ceiling.
Patients who take part in the study will be asked to recall memories from when they were in cardiac arrest or "clinically dead" to see whether their experiences were accurate or merely illusions.
Dr Sam Parnia, an intensive care specialist and visiting technician at the University of Southampton, who is heading the research, said: "Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment. If you can demonstrate that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows for the possibility that consciousness is a separate entity.
"It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens but we have to be open-minded. And if no one sees the pictures, it shows these experiences are illusions or false memories."
He pointed out that, after a cardiac arrest, a person can be technically dead for "few seconds or an hour or more" before doctors restart his or her heart.
British actress Jane Seymour had an out-of-body experience when she momentarily "died" after being given an injection of penicillin for 'flu, which produced a strong allergic reaction.
Elizabeth Taylor said she had an "out of body" experience in the 1950s, during which she met and spoke to her dead husband Mike Todd.
And American actress Sharon Stone has spoken of having "white light experience" when she almost died after suffering a torn artery.
Hospitals involved in the study include Addenbrooke's in Cambridge, University Hospital, Birmingham, and the Morriston in Swansea.
|
