[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the link and the excerpt!

There are, of course, other views. Here is a link to an organization doing scientific research on NDE's: Horizon Research Foundation

From the conclusion on the article you linked:

NDE's can be safely induced by ketamine, and the glutamate theory of the NDE can thus be investigated by experiment. Discoveries in neuroscience suggest a common origin for ketamine experiences and the NDE in events occuring at glutamatergic synapses, mediated by NMDA receptors via their PCP channel component. This hypothesis links most of the neurobiological and psychological theories (hypoxia, a peptide flood, temporal lobe electrical abnormalities, regression in the service of the ego, reactivation of birth memories, sensory deprivation etc.) rather than being an alternative to them. Most of the tenets of the hypothesis are strongly supported by experimental evidence which implicates glutamate and NMDA receptors in the processes which precipitate NDE's. The postulate that anti-excitotoxic agents can flood the brain remains to be clearly established.

IMHO, that hypothesis does not resolve NDE phenomenon, especially this: Children's Drawings of NDE's.

The point of the studies I've linked above is that the researchers found there was no physical brain functioning to record new memories in third person of actual events that happened after death.

[Dimensio]

I remember a special on NDEs. People who had experienced them were sharing a common theme: all remembered travelling through a long tunnel, and then they appeared in a large bright room surrounded by people wearing white, and then they were asked to take a number and wait to be called.

[jennyp]

NDE's are fascinating, aren't they? The article says that ketamine is generally regarded as safe, and it talks about experiments (with varying levels of controls, LOL). I've never been into drugs, and the idea of inducing a near-death experience is just too freaky for me!

Jenny