1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:10,879 Speaker 1: brain Stuff lorn bog Obam. Here a man recalls plunging 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: into darkness and seeing a bright light. Here members a 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,319 Speaker 1: field of flowers, and a figure in white who spoke 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: to him about his future. The next thing he recalls 6 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,479 Speaker 1: is awakening to discover that during the time he had 7 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: experienced this vision, he had actually been lying on an 8 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:27,639 Speaker 1: operating table with doctors hovering over him, frantically trying to 9 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: restart his stopped heart. You've probably heard stories similar to 10 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: this one, which was recounted in an article in New 11 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: Scientists back in two thousand six. What this man remembers 12 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: experiencing is called a near death experience, or an n 13 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: d E. In the medical literature. Reportedly, about ten to 14 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 1: twenty of people who survive heart attacks experience in n 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: D but written accounts of NDEs go back to ancient times. 16 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,400 Speaker 1: Usually they involve euphoria, tunnels, bright lights, ethereal beings, or 17 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: some combination of those phenomena. Some people report seeing a 18 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: high speed replay of memories their lives flashing before their eyes. 19 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Nobody really knows what n d s are, or how 20 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: and why they occur, though, there are wide ranging hypotheses 21 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: and opinions. Some who believe in the metaphysical think that 22 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,480 Speaker 1: during an NDE, a seriously ill or injured persons soul 23 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: leaves the physical body and journeys to the entrance of 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: the afterlife. There, for whatever reason, their soul is turned 25 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: away and sent back to resume earthly life, sometimes with 26 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,880 Speaker 1: a newfound insight about life's purpose. Some physicians and neuroscientists 27 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: who have searched for a more provable explanation for endes 28 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: suspect that they're hallucinations, somehow caused by the process of 29 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: the dying brain shutting down. Over the years, some have 30 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: theorized the n d s result when the brain is 31 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: deprived of oxygen, or when a mysterious and yet unverified 32 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: chemical binds itself to neurons in an effort to protect 33 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: them from that deprivation, and some think that the brains 34 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: impending shut down triggers a flood of endorphins cause euphoria 35 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,000 Speaker 1: or electrical discharges in the hippocampus, the brain area involved 36 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: in memory. Another theory goes that near death experiences are 37 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: caused by side effects of anesthesia or other medications. However, 38 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,040 Speaker 1: so far science has failed to come up with an 39 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: air tight explanation for NDEs. In the largest ever study 40 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: of the phenomenon, published in the journal Lancet in two 41 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: thousand one, Dutch physicians interviewed three d and forty four 42 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,440 Speaker 1: mostly elderly hospital patients who survived brushes with death in 43 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:34,120 Speaker 1: which their hearts stopped. Though eight percent of them reported 44 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: experiencing NDEs, the researchers found no link to the amount 45 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:39,760 Speaker 1: of time that they were in cardiac arrest or to 46 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: the drugs that they had been given since then. Study 47 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:48,359 Speaker 1: published in the journal Clinical Care offered yet another possible explanation. 48 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: Researchers looked at blood samples taken from fifty two patients 49 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: shortly after they'd survived cardiac arrest. The eleven patients who 50 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:00,840 Speaker 1: reported experiencing NDEs tended to have significant higher levels of 51 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide in their bloodstreams. Other studies have linked high 52 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide levels with visual hallucinations, and mountain climbers who 53 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: have experienced carbon dioxide spikes at high altitudes have reported 54 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: seeing bright lights and having other hallucinations similar to NDEs. 55 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 1: But again the researchers offer a caveat not every patient 56 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: in the study who had high carbon dioxide levels experienced 57 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: a near death experience. There's also some evidence that NDEs 58 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,839 Speaker 1: may have something to do with a psychological process rather 59 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: than a physiological process. Studies have found that younger patients, 60 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: female patients, and deeply religious patients are more likely to 61 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: report NDEs, and that two thousand one Dutch study reported 62 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: another intriguing finding. When researchers reinterviewed the twenty three people 63 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: who had experienced nd S and We're still alive eight 64 00:03:50,800 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: years later, those people showed significant psychological differences. Most of 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: them had become more emotionally vulnerable and empathetic towards others. 66 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: Today's episode was written by Patrick Jake Tiger and produced 67 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I 68 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radios Has To Works. For more in this and 69 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: lots of other theoretical topics, visit our home planet has 70 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:16,640 Speaker 1: to Works dot Com and more. Podcasts from my Heart 71 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 72 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.