I remember a old movie “FLATLINERS”-it was about a group of medical students who experimented on eachother-but inducig clinical death. The subjects eperienced horrifying Near DeathExperiences.
Has this been done in real like? What were the results? Did people have comforting dreams of heaven-or terrifying experiences?
I would have a hard time believing that “induci[n]g clinical death” would pass even a cursory understanding of the Hippocratic Oath.
However, there is the International Association for Near-Death Studies. They do research of a different type, though.
If the whole brain is deprived of its ability to function, no memories at all are laid down. Such a state of deep unconsciousness does not typically develop instantaneously nor does it develop simultaneously in all parts of the brain. So during induction of, and recovery from, assorted levels of obtundation in assorted structures of the brain there are various memories created; these are then processed within the larger personality of the patient.
Over the years I’ve personally attended lots–more than a hundred perhaps?–of what might be described as “near-death experiences.” I’m using the term to describe acute medical and traumatic events which render the patient mostly unconscious. Examples might be cardiac and traumatic arrests where, from a medical standpoint, the patient literally came close to dying and then recovered enough to report back to me, so to speak.
In my opinion, the “near-death” aspect is sort of irrelevant to the question of what is experienced when the brain cycles from normal consciousness to complete loss of function and back again. For instance, in some surgical procedures not only is deep unconsciousness initiated on purpose; the patient is also made hypothermic to boot. As close to dead as you could be–flatline EEG at temps much below 27C in association with anesthesia. But it doesn’t have the drama of “near-death” from acute ventricular fibrillation in a heart attack, for instance.
There is a wide variety of experiences reported for unconsious states. I’m not convinced there’s much of a correlation between whether it was “near-death” or not except for the drama overlaying the “near-death” part when it was an unexpected event. And of course, ordinary unconsciousness of varying degrees from a wide variety of causes is very common.
Astronauts and military pilots who undergo high-G research/training in centrifuges have reported a relatively consistent set of experiences as they undergo g-LOC (g force induced loss of consciousness) - mapping closely to the classic NDE.
Link.
Doctors wouldn’t put people close to clinical death for trivial reasons, but it appears that just approaching unconsciousness may be close enough. As the brain shuts down (in a specific order) and memory creation is interfered with, the classic NDE occurs.
Si