Medical advances that manage to resuscitate people from comas and cardiac arrests have enabled new research into the brain activity of people experiencing near-death experiences and a new (contested) explanation about why they occur.

The main criticism of a recent neurophysiological explanation for near-death experiences is that these events are too complex to be explained as a neurochemical response to an oxygen-deprived brain.

The body's response to cardiac arrest has been linked to near-death experiences.

What happens in a dying brain?

Near-death experiences usually happen during death or on the border of life and death when a person isn't understood to be conscious. This article details the science of what's going on with the brain during NDEs.

A near-death experience is a phenomenon reported by roughly 5% of the population, typically occurring after a traumatic physical event or a brief clinical death.

A leading expert on near-death experiences, psychiatrist Dr. Bruce Greyson, says that during his decades of research on this topic, this area of research has become far more mainstream and accepted as a rigorous area of inquiry.

A radiation oncologist has studied near-death experience reports for over 25 years and compiled around 4,000 accounts in the hopes of finding more patterns that would reveal insights about consciousness and humans' final moments before or around death.

Some scientists argue NDEs are constructed by the brain, not actually experienced

Despite the powerful memories associated with NDEs, scientists question the idea that the experiences prove consciousness endures after death, opting instead to find physiological explanations for common reports of out-of-body experiences, euphoric and lucid thinking, and more.

Brain activity sometimes goes into overdrive around the point of death according to researchers' recent analysis of patients' brains before and after they were taken off their ventilators.

Accounts of near-death experiences share similarities with hallucinogens, with reports of mystical-like states of consciousness across both contexts.

NDEs typically change people's outlooks drastically and can prompt depression

The phenomena are regularly categorized as hallucinations, but some specialists are interested in their psychological nuances. Many survivors report feeling less anxiety about death, though some surveys show the experiences can increase physiological sensitivities.

Near-death experiences can be reminiscent of religious visions, yet people across different faiths as well as those with no declared religion have reported them.

The oldest medical report of a near-death experience dates to around 1740.

Meet the Dutch cardiologist who believes consciousness can exist outside the body

Dutch cardiologist Dr. Pim van Lommel conducted one of the largest studies of near-death experiences following cardiac arrest, publishing the results in the prestigous journel The Lancet. He later went on to argue (to significant criticism from peers) that his findings suggest consciousness can exist outside the body.

Scientists are studying dying patients' brain activity in the final moments of life

In the final moments of life there are distinctive bursts of coordinated neural activity. Researchers are interested in parsing that data to better understand the dying process and also exploring how this data relates to our understanding of consciousness.

Psychiatrist Bruce Greyson created a scale to identify and rate NDEs

Researcher Bruce Greyson is one of the world’s leading experts on near-death experiences. This article explores what the field of NDE research has learned over the last five decades, discusses the difficulties of studying such a controversial topic, and outlines what we’ve ruled out as the cause of these events.

Near-death experiences have been reported across cultures for millennia.

The University of Virginia has the nation's most established near-death studies division, but institutions including the University of Southampton, the University of Connecticut, and the University of North Texas have also explored the field.

Four in 10 CPR patients report consciousness not captured by standard measures.

A 'paranormal activity' unit at the University of Virginia studies challenges to mainstream scientific ideas about human consciousness.

Research advances suggest death takes much longer than we realized

Recent research indicates that organs, including the brain, are better at handling a lack of oxygen after the heart stops beating than previously known. Such findings may open up possibilities that include someday reversing certain death processes and expanding the availability of organs available for organ donations. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Brain death is a uniquely modern problem stemming from modern ventilators.

Terminal lucidity is the phenomenon of sudden, heightened mental clarity when on the verge of death

The "Let's Talk Near Death" podcast explores phenomena around the end of life, inviting guests to recount their own experiences. This episode focuses on the phenomenon known as "terminal lucidity," where patients experience clarity, vivid memory recall, and more, typically following a heart attack, stroke, or other trauma.

Listen to an avowed rationalist discuss his frightening near-death experience visions from 2020 and how it changed his life outlook.

Watch this 2021 video demonstrating a full brain death examination

This video and accompanying article in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine show the then-standard steps of a full brain death examination—demonstrating the process on a medical dummy to search for pain, blinking, eye movement, cough, gagging, or other forms of responsiveness. (May need to sign up for a free account to view.)

See the 16-question Greyson questionnaire on near-death experiences and how they're scored.