Bishop Thomas John Paprocki | Diocese of Springfield

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are a complex set of phenomena that often include reports of leaving one’s body, seeing it from outside or above, passing through a tunnel of light, seeing various forms of illumination, experiencing the presence of deceased relatives and friends, and even sensing the presence of angelic or divine beings. Between 12 and 15 percent of resuscitated heart attack patients report NDEs.

Sometimes discussions of these experiences include spiritual interpretations and religious overtones. Some commentators have claimed that “near-death experiences are certainly pronounced and conspicuous evidence of a transphysical soul” that we may use “to extract information about the afterlife.” Such strong claims, however, require further substantiation, even as they trigger vigorous discussion.

NDEs are not instances of a person actually dying and then returning from the dead to tell about it. If an individual were to die and return to life, there would have to be a supernatural explanation and cause. Human corpses do not come back to life apart from rare miraculous events described in the Gospels involving Jesus, Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus, and the son of the widow at Nain.

Human death involves irreversibility: the irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions or all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem, as explained in the 1981 Guidelines of the American Medical Association. NDEs involve reversible situations caused by physiological phenomena arising as the human brain faces stressors like oxygen deprivation rather than any properly supernatural phenomena.

While supernatural forces could theoretically cause an NDE, explanatory entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity according to Occam’s razor. The Church’s wisdom suggests preferring natural explanations for phenomena unless evidence for a supernatural explanation becomes truly compelling or overwhelming.

Rather than presupposing a supernatural explanation for NDEs, scientists have considered alternative explanations by examining stressful near-death situations and their effects on brain function.

A 2023 Scientific American article notes how researchers “analyzed EEG data from four comatose patients before and after their ventilators were removed. As the patients’ brains became deprived of oxygen, two showed an unexpected surge of gamma activity, a type of high-frequency wave linked to memory formation and information integration.”

This raises the prospect that even in severe hypoxia situations certain brain functions may briefly operate in ways affecting thought and perception.

Dr. Kevin Nelson, who has extensively studied near-death experiences notes “One of the most common causes of near-death experiences is fainting,” which can generate a sense of being separated from one’s body or euphoria. Researchers also reported that restricted oxygen flow to the eye can sometimes result in tunnel vision experiences.

Others argue central nervous system hallucinatory mechanisms may contribute to NDEs. Neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks noted how migraine headaches can generate illusions or hallucinations often described as pulsating lights or shimmering illumination.

Sacks described Swiss neuroscientist Dr. Olaf Blanke's work generating hallucinations by electrically stimulating a patient's left temporoparietal junction: “When lying down,” Sacks reported, “a mild stimulation gave her an impression someone was behind her; stronger stimulation allowed her to define [someone] as young but indeterminate sex.”

NDEs can resemble drug-induced experiences with many noting similarities between NDE accounts and essays by conscious drug users experimenting with substances like mushrooms or LSD.

Sacks observed hallucinations seem real because “they deploy very same systems in brain actual perceptions do.” When hallucinating faces fusiform face area activates; when hallucinating voices auditory pathways stimulate suggesting similar mechanisms for NDEs.

Sacks also raised possibility NDEs occur not during absence circulation/coma but surfacing out regaining cortex function.

Since verifying causes individual’s NDE difficult caution interpreting such experiences wise.

The most authoritative source information afterlife remains One who came heaven redeemed suffering death resurrection invites follow into eternal life.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk Ph.D earned doctorate neuroscience Yale post-doctoral work Harvard priest diocese Fall River Mass serves Senior Ethicist National Catholic Bioethics Center Philadelphia See www.ncbcenter.organd www.fathertad.com