Afterlife: Expert discusses 'feelings' in near-death experiences
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What happens when we die is perhaps the biggest mystery to science. Those who believe in the afterlife are convinced it is there, while those who do not are adamant death is the finale before nothingness. However, with no true evidence either way, we are forced to rely on anecdotal stories from people who have had a brush with death.
One such person is a woman named Whitney, who temporarily died following complications with pneumonia.
Whitney said that in her brush with death, she crossed over to an endless void where she felt nothing but peace.
Whitney described her perceived glimpse of the afterlife on the Near Death Experience Research Foundation.
She said: “Suddenly, I was drifting. I was lying peacefully on my back surrounded in a pale blue glow while moving into a calm blue void.
“I was not alone, despite not being able to see anyone. We were all connected.
“I felt so much peace and belonging. I was home and safe.
“I also felt joy, acceptance, and that I was loved and that others cared about me just because I am me.
“Here, I didn’t need to be, do, or say anything to be accepted or prove myself.”
Whitney suddenly awoke in her body, but now is convinced she has seen the afterlife.
However, researchers would not be so certain and say that experiences such as Whitney’s are the result of a surge in brain activity.
Scientists from the University of Michigan came to this conclusion after they clinically induced cardiac arrest in rats while simultaneously monitoring their brain activity.
They found a huge surge in brain activity in the final 30 seconds of the rodents’ lives.
Jimo Borjigin, PhD, associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology and associate professor of neurology, said: “This study, performed in animals, is the first dealing with what happens to the neurophysiological state of the dying brain.
“We reasoned that if near-death experience stems from brain activity, neural correlates of consciousness should be identifiable in humans or animals even after the cessation of cerebral blood flow.”
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