Many people who have experienced a near-death experience (NDE) have reported a loss of their sense of a “distinct self” in the process. Among the features of NDEs, a sense of deep peace and the departure from the body are usually noted. Part of the out-of-body experience is also a shift in the location of the perceived “self.” A group of researchers from Belgium and the UK (Martial, Fontaine, Gosseries, Carhart-Harris, Timmermann, Laureys and Cassol) became interested in this topic.
NDEs usually occurs in really dangerous situations, such as cardiac arrest or a brain hemorrhage. However, the authors also distinguish “NDE-like” states caused by meditation or sleep, that is, without risk to life. As the researchers add, the blurring of the boundaries between the “self” and the surrounding world is also observed when using drugs, especially in high doses.
Violation of self-perception can occur at different levels:
– self-identification with a body (“Do I have a body? If so, what is my body?”);
– self-location in space (“Where am I?”);
– the visuospatial perspective we experience (“From where do I experience the world?”).
On average, 9–12% of people experienced such violations. According to the scientists’ observations, those who report a “subjective sense of connectedness with nature” and are open to new experiences are especially prone to this. At the same time, reviews of classic NDE situations and NDE-like episodes show that the two do not differ from each other in the richness of the impressions left on the individual. This leads to the hypothesis that the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying NDEs can be activated spontaneously, even in situations where there is no real threat to life.
We should add that the study traces the interconnectedness of phase states: the authors note out-of-body experience as one of the defining characteristics of NDE, and also mention lucid dreams as an opportunity to reproduce near-death experiences.
The article was published in July 2021 in the journal Brain Sciences.
