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Call for questions: NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES (Patreon)

Published:
2023-11-03 22:32:24
Imported:
2026-06

Content

On Wednesday I'll be interviewing a leading expert on near-death experiences. This doctor has been studying life, death, and consciousness for decades and has been privy to numerous first-hand accounts. He co-founded the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS), an organization to support and promote research into these experiences, and has been awarded for his contributions to science.

What does a near-death experience feel like? What recurring themes happen during these events? What are the after effects? What is the meaning of life??? Tell me your questions in the comments. 

Comments

Matt Ceccato

Do near-death experiences happen during sleep or when wide awake?

Rayna

During a near death experience, do people tend to see their passed loved ones? Or is that wishful thinking?

Isa Brillard

What exactly constitutes a near-death experience? Are there certain parts of the brain that are engaged when one is dying?

Terena

Do children have near death experiences? If so, how are they different from adult experiences? Thanks so much!

Devin McPeek

Are there any theories about the bright light commonality among people’s near death experiences?

Faith Novella

Does tripping on DMT simulate a near death experience?

Johanna Burr

How often do people see their own religious/spiritual leaders during these near death experiences? Also, what is the record for how long someone has technically been dead before they were revived?

Therese Enders

Please please just reassure me that even when people die horrifically, their dying brains fire up in a way that makes their last moments peaceful or less terrifying. Lie if you must.

Johanna Burr

What is the craziest thing a person has been told by someone they saw "on the other side?"

Tom Boodry

Do people really experience or recall heading towards a white light? Or is that just a cliche in popular culture?

Kelsey lore

I have been in nearly death experiences with other people a few times, and it was really fascinating (in hindsight) how differently people reacted from one another. Are there many patterns for how most people react to these things?

VibesandMoods

When does it count as a near death experience? Does someone's life flashing before their eyes count or does it have to be like full heart stopped for a while?

Jadine Lannon

When people have near-death experiences and they "see the light" or have an experience that is commonly associated with transitioning to an afterlife, what is happening?? Is there a bio and/or neurological explanation for this or are we, in fact, transitioning to an afterlife? Please answer this age-old philosophical and existential question in a Q&A section of a podcast please, no pressure 🤣

Stephanie

Does having a near-death experience have an impact on a person's future health or lifespan? I imagine this is a very high-stress event in most cases??

Charlotte Parkinson

Oh hell, first time asker here! In the moment my Dad was dying, he hadn't been able to say a word in two weeks due to being in and out of a induced coma and having brain damage. His last word was my mum's name who had passed away years before. Are there experiences of people who in these moments have images or some sort of hallucinations that seem real life?

Nina Giacobbe

Have you read the Villains series by VE Schwab and if so, thoughts on its portrayal of NDEs? And if not, read it because it's sooooo good. (Last name is juh-KOH-bee )

Derek Peloquin

Thoughts on the OA (Netflix show) and inducing NDEs for some sort of divine revelation?

Avery Elloway

The old “white light” thing—do we have any scientific explanation for this phenomenon? Like something with neurological pathways or something?

Hannah Leith

Is it possible that our brains are creating our afterlife experience based on what we believe and what we desire to experience?

OpticalJedi

First time asker here. I was hospitalized for 3 months back in 2003. Should have died. Had 3 specific instances while in hospital where they didn’t think I’d make it. I had many hallucinations but never anything I would call “spiritual”. Do they think a patients religious or spiritual background impacts the experience?

Caitlin Morrison

After a near-death experience, how often do people make major changes in their lives? Do they tend to go on business as usual or alter everything with a new lease on life or somewhere in between?

Abby Saxton

I’m SO excited for this episode. Also, first time asker! I’ve heard that DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) is released in the brain when you die, but haven’t done much research. Is this true? Is it true that when you die, it’s like watching a film of your whole life? And is that DMT or film-flam?

Caty F

First time question asker! Is it true hospice nurses know their patients are nearing the end when the patients claim deceased family members came to visit them?

Elliot Peterson Lester

This is my dads favorite topic, so i had to ask him what his burning question is so from my 74 year old british father…..are there any other explanations for Veridical evidence?

Rob Lara

Hi! What’s the deal with amnesia?! What determines how much you don’t remember? What determines a coma vs being knocked unconscious “for a little bit?”

Chandler Witherington

What actually constitutes a near-death experience? For example, does someone's heart have to stop beating or could they have a near death experience during a severe car crash but never actually lost consciousness?

Chris Curious

Can our brains use unconsciousness or hallucination to protect us from trauma?

Alicen Meysing

Has the description of documented near-death experiences changed throughout history or has it always had the same main components? Like did people hundreds of years ago write about “seeing the light” or being outside your body during a NDE?

Sophia A

What is the role of DMT in near death experience? Can this state be achieved in ways other than almost dying or smoking DMT?

Stevie Rose

I’m an EMT. When I have a patient who’s circling the drain, with bad vital signs and in very poor condition, almost all of them start “stargazing:” staring straight at the ceiling, almost THROUGH the ceiling. Why do people do this???

Christopher Blubaugh

Is there any MRI brain imaging that has occurred when someone is having an NDE?

StrawbrryMom 🍓

Has anyone ever read the words they put on ceilings in some hospitals? (Like when they lose the heartbeat but are brought back - supposedly many patients have had out-of-body experiences and can see themselves being brought back to life, so people started posting words on the hospital ceilings to see if patients saw them while out-of-body)

Rachel Prestayko

First time question asker! Is it true that some people have their life flash before their eyes or an out of body experience when having a near death experience? Is there a particular region of the brain active or release of a neurochemical that may cause this?

Aidan Dorn

First time question asker - how do experiences on psychedelics like LSD or DMT compare to near death experiences? Are they similar at all?

StrawbrryMom 🍓

As do I. My mom, a devout Catholic, saw flying nuns over her bed when she was dying in hospital

okayest mom

hello! first time question asker! I wonder if what a person recounts as their near-death experience differs depending on their personal religious or spiritual beliefs?

Quincey Robisheaux

Does the rate of near death experiences go down after the teenage years?

Sandy Davis

ooh! also, selective amnesia (or trauma blocks?) That's always fascinated me!

MB

Near death experiences seem to be commonly associated with a variety of dissociative events (out of body experiences, life flashing before eyes, hallucinations, etc.). Some people have dissociative disorders where these just happen to them. Are the two related?

Doug Paice

Years ago I read the book "dying to live" by Susan Blackmore. In that she said the NDE could be explained by a distressed and dying brain. Does that hold up?

JENN 'Benthopelagic squirrel' ALVAREZ

I had a NDE in 2013 when I had a massive ischemic stroke. I didn't see a light. What percentage see light and of those, how many are spiritual?

Lindsay Williams

I am a first time asker here, asking for my husband who has been in a serious accident resulting in a near death experience."What is the awareness of non-spiritual near death experiences? I am not religious and all I experienced was a black void."

Quincey Robisheaux

I had a near death experience as a child - basically I fell face first from on top of a slide into the sand and came to a few minutes later. What I remember most was that I couldn't breathe the first two times I tried. Is this a normal experience for people whose airways get blocked during the near death incident?

Doug Paice

Also interested to know how different cultures interpret the experience

Trevor Durning

Veteran here. I didn’t realize the number of near death experiences I had during service until I started recounting my time to friends and family…is that better or worse for my brain?

Ellie Frances

Do people who experience NDE often see their loved ones who have passed? What about religious figures?

Deanna Roberson

Are certain people more prone to near death experiences?

Emily Staw-fur

Do near death experiences usually leave the person with a positive or negative outlook? Like "live every day like it's your last" or "I almost died once now I live in fear of it happening again"

Kathleen Lenz

Do people who have had a NDE often make huge life changes afterwards given their new perspective on life?

Doug Stewart

The few times I’ve had a near death experience the world seems to slow down and my actions start to feel exceedingly deliberate. What’s happening there? What is my body doing? Why do other people freeze up?

mish the fish

what happens on a neurochemical level before during and after a near death experience?

Emily Staw-fur

Is there any documentation from centuries ago on people having near death experience? How did they explain someone who may have seemingly died come back to life?

Margot Louis

Curious about the concept of “ego deaths” on psychedelics and how closely related they are to actual NDE

Kelli Brockington

I was hit by a car when I was 10 yrs old - Is it common for folks to describe these types of traumatic experiences like it was in SLOOOO motion or segments of the overall event were super sped up? I know for me - that was the case...

Emily Staw-fur

Do we know if dying in a dream has the same effect neurologically as a near death experience?

Holly Giorgio-Dundon

Are there commonalities or differences in near-death experiences reported by individuals from various cultural backgrounds?

Holly Giorgio-Dundon

What neurological mechanisms might explain the common elements reported in near-death experiences?

Holly Giorgio-Dundon

What ethical considerations should be taken into account when conducting research on near-death experiences, particularly regarding participant well-being?

Annmarie Everhart

I hope this is Dr. Bruce Greyson! Saw him at a Books and Brews event earlier this year and he was great!!! If it is Dr. Greyson, I read in Mary Roach's book called Spook that Dr. Greyson was putting images on the ceilings of operating rooms to see if patients who had the perception of leaving their bodies could identify the correct image. Is he still doing this experiment and has anyone ever identified the correct image?

Dave Brewer

This is an excellent question. I hope it gets asked.

Elizabeth Davis

Thoughts on the book "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo in which a young boy recounts his near death experience? While it is a religious experience for the boy, it also recounts some shocking knowledge that he should not have been able to know.

Debs Gardner

He’s my friend’s dad and I’m hoping it’s him too!

Danae DeJournett

I think the biggest thing I’m interested in is whether this phenomenon has been studied outside of western culture. I watched a Netflix series about it and everyone on that show was white, I believe, and from North America (I may be wrong; it’s been awhile since I watched). Is this just a thing with people who are immersed more in a culture where Abrahamic religions/religions that believe in a heaven exist? Or can we find instances of this in Asian and African countries and places where indigenous people have not been touched by the more prevalent world cultures?

Ma's Nature Walks

I nearly died immediately after having my baby. During the month I spent in the hospital during my recovery, I had a lot of hallucinations or visions, depending on who I'm talking to. 8 months later, I was again in the hospital for emergency complications, but I wasn't near death, and didn't have any hallucinations. Are hallucinations common during recovery from a near death experience?

Olivia Kimes

Is there a term for the experience of time slowing down during a near death experience? For example, I rolled my truck one time and I remember seeing the logs we used to weigh down the bed flying past my window in slow motion. Another time I was running across the road and a car came flying out of nowhere, and as we just barely missed colliding I remember watching the car come at me in slow motion. Maybe this is not considered near death because I was concious and uninjured the whole time, but definitely one of those "my life is flashing before my eyes moments."

Beatrice Lesser

About 45 years ago, when i was about 25, I was driving on an expressway with my friend's 4 year old in the back seat. It was a beautiful summer afternoon and traffic was light. Suddenly, I lost control of the car as if it was shot across three lanes and although I turned the steering wheel trying to straighten it, the car whizzed onto the shoulder and flipped over, landing on the roof. (Why this happened was never made clear.) I was knocked out and when I came to, I knew i was upside down, wrapped around the steering wheel, pinned in place. I saw the firemen and they seemed to be already there before I landed. I knew I was hurt but no idea how badly. I didn't hear the child crying or anything and assumed the worst. I knew that I could be paralyzed for the rest of my life having killed the child. I knew that whether or not there was a god, I would have to endure my horrible life alone. The firemen broke the steering wheel and got me out and put me on a stretcher. I kept yelling, "where's the baby?" Finally, they picked her up and held her in front on me and she was fine. (When my friend came to the hospital to get his daughter, he stopped by my bed. I apologized again and again as if I had killed her and he kept saying she was fine. I required some plastic surgery to reattach a small part of my ear and had a huge hematoma with black and blue marks from getting hit on the head.)

Elie Zwiebel

Why does time seem to slow down in those precious moments when one is flirting with mortality?

Joe Porfido

Do you realize how excited I am right now!!!!

Mary Peticca

I have heard so many stories of people who, while under anesthesia during a surgery, will have an out-of-body experience in which they can see the operating room from another point-of-view. Having had four surgeries myself, I have never encountered this sort of feeling, but always wondered if those experiences are near-death experiences or some sort of spiritual involvement. So I guess my question is, is having an out-of-body experience considered a near-death, and if so, how come some people have this occurrence during surgery and others, like myself, never have this affect?

BokBokMF

Have variations been found in the reported near death visions that align with different cultural and spiritual belief systems? Is there any correlation that suggests a persons belief system affects what they see or experience?

Katie Simpson

First time question asker: Are near-death experiences just a massive brain dump of DMT? Are they some kind of endogenous psychedelic escape from being acutely aware of life leaving our bodies??

Yuri

I saw a presentation by a Caltech professor that consciousness/unconsciousness was partially controlled by the quantum state of atoms in the brain. How is the quantum state related to our aliveness/consciousness?

Yuri

Is the part of the brain that can be stimulated to induce hallucinations of angels/a presence, activated during near death experiences?

Yuri

Has any one ever done an MRI of the brain during these events?

Will Clark

Is there a statistical relationship between reported made and Faith?

Maren Prophit

Is there any way to safely induce a near death scenario , possibly via virtual reality, to study what happens? Or is it strictly defined as an organic sort of phenomenon?

Cinnamon

Is it common for people who have had near death experiences to have more psychic phenomena or extra sensory experiences after their NDE? This has been true for me but I always wondered if it is true for others who have had NDEs. I had a near death experience at age five as a result of a major car accident. I have had extra sensory experiences ever since. This is nothing that I have ever wanted and rarely talk about. Also I should note that my NDE was not a religious experience as I was not raised religious. But I did see a light and felt other presences near me (no one I knew) and we were talking. I didn’t want to return to my body and I liked the feeling of the light, but they were telling me it wasn’t my time yet. Maybe I imagined it, maybe I didn’t. It sure felt real. It was a miracle I survived.

Laura Salisbury

Can you ask for book recommendations on where to explore this concept further? I tried to look into a few years ago but most books I found were quite Christianity/heaven focused and it felt a little biased.

Audrey Ayers

Why do some people think they have been to heaven after they’ve been dead & resuscitated? Are they full of shit?

Audrey Ayers

Do NDE vary in different cultures? Does what they see or feel change based on their own beliefs/community beliefs?

Meagan Walker

Are the experiences generally different for folks who are religious vs those who are not?

Meagan Walker

Do people who have NDE score differently on personality scales before and after?

Meagan Walker

Are there ways of replicating the effects of a NDE in a way that doesn’t involve almost dying?

Guido

Are there similarities between NDE and dreams? Is NDE a kind of dream?

Mark McPhillips

Is the image of "a light at the end of a tunnel" something often found in actual NDE reports, or is it just a Hollywood cliché? If the former, does it appear across different cultures with different traditional conceptions of the afterlife?

Nathan Howard

Why does time seem to slow/you remember more details during NDEs?

DelilahD

Has he watched The Good Place? Specifically the season when they are in Australia studying the effects of near death experiences?

Esohn

Is there a difference in NDEs that impacted or didn’t impact the body? What I mean is, almost getting hit by a speeding vehicle that would’ve been an instant death versus getting hit but coming through at the hospital?

Katie Murray

Do people make major life changes after near death experiences? If so, what are some of the most common types? On a similar note, how do near death experiences seem to affect close relationships? Does the expert’s research touch on trauma bonding experiences at all?

Gwen Kelly

Someone asked about experiencing time slowing down, if everyone experiences that slowing but I’ve also always wondered if there is a difference in the experiences of NDEs between people who nearly died slowly (like drowning or freezing, you have a longer amount of time to process and be aware that you’re near death) vs people who had something quick or sudden (like a gunshot or something where your brain has very little time to process or react to realize, oh shit, I’m gonna die) ? Also I heard adrenaline affects this experience of time, is only adrenaline that floods the brain in that moment ? Or are there other neurotransmitters or chemicals besides adrenaline?

Melissa Kane

Is there a correlation between experiencing a NDE and being religious?

T Noz

Find Gwen's comments above intriguing. Have studies been done on people dying of a chronic condition that have been put into functional MRI machines just before death? Sounds pretty gruesome treatment for someone that close (was in the room when my mother died - definitely traumatic) but Science can be intrusive when looking for answers.

Maria Andrus

How many people who have experienced NDEs say that they have seen the gray aliens while on the other side?

Malia 🌀🩻

I would love to hear about how a near death experience changes how the brain functions. Does it always result in PTSD? How does PTSD change the chemicals and reactions our brains have to stimuli? (First time asker btw, hi alie <3)

Hannah Riedl

How many NDEs do you have to have to become an expert? If zero, what is other relevant experience?

Hannah Riedl

is being born a NDE, just death from a previous life?

Mary Elizabeth Parks

In addition, what about not even NDEs in dreams but DEs in dreams?

Mary Elizabeth Parks

Do you think the effect of NDEs can purely be explained by science?

Allison Menard

What qualifies as NDE? Does the person have to have been really sick or injured? Or can it include almost being hit by a bus?

Allison Menard

I work at a nursing home and I was wondering how often NDE can occur in one person while they are slowly fading away. One resident was on care and comfort and “graduated” from hospice 3 times over several years before passing. So could the same condition cause multiple NDEs?

Dorit

What do they think of the series called the OA? So much NDE flimflam I'm sure!

Jadine Lannon

I've heard stories of animals acting strangely right before someone has a NDE. Is there any basis to this or is this just flim flam?

LJ

Hi! First time question asker :) I would love to know about the link between DMT and NDE— I heard that a chemical is released in your brain when you died (or nearly die) which people also use recreationally as a psychedelic, and which is present in Ayahuasca. Please expand!

Amy Zucker Morgenstern

Has anyone done a comparison of what people from different countries, cultures, or religions experience during NDEs? I'm wondering if the things we see and feel are shaped by ideas about the afterlife we've inherited from our culture, or if they're all more or less the same no matter where we're from. Sign me AZM or Amy Z.M.

Yves Hebert

What is the meaning of near death i saw that i was in a tunnel with a lot of bright lights at the end and then i came back to life ?

Krista Jones

Do a lot of people really have visions/dreams during near-death experiences or is that flim flam perpetuated by movies? If not flim flam, what’s the wackiest thing anyone’s ever envisioned during their near-death experience?

Stephanie Trout Berman

My Mother always tells us of having one of these "warm, very lit, tunnel feelings and someone standing in front of her waving her forward", she then stated, "I want to go but I have children so NO", and then she felt like she was woken up...is that similar to losing your blood pressure and passing out?

Helena DiMarzio

As a person obsessed with the OA, are NDE’s glimpses of our lives in an alternative plane?

Charline

4 years ago I had a car accident and almost died. I remember seeing a bright light and then was unconscious for about an hour. When I finally woke up I was in the ER with my mother not knowing how I got there. Could that be my bodies fight or flight response in a NDE?

Susana Capucho

Does anything change in the brain after a NDE? and if so, why? Just like after giving birth, some areas of the mother's brain expand and others shrink.

Jenna Congdon

Why does modern Western culture (especially, it seems, the US) have such a taboo about planning for death? We will all experience it someday, and it could be sudden. So many people refuse to get paperwork together, talk about their wishes, etc. When I, a young, healthy person, did those things people told me it was "morbid" or "unusual ", when really it's just responsible! Are there any ways you use your platform working with near-death experiences to help others begin to calmly think about their eventual actual-death?

Jenna Congdon

I love this question, hope she asks it!

Jenna Congdon

I'm purely speculating here, but I wonder if it has to do with your smell changing from hormones or chemical shifts in your body. Animals can tell when you're sick, so why not when you're nearly-dead?

Meagan Walker

Came here to ask the same thing!

Nicole Kleinman

When I had a near death car accident, I felt my “life flash before my eyes” - why does that happen?

Beck

Do any drugs (psychadelics, ketamine) have similar effects on the brain to a NDE? Also, does genuinely thinking you're about to die, even if you're physically not, count as a NDE?

Emily H

How do you explain near death experiences that don't actually correspond with almost dying? I was struck by a car as a pedestrian and I had an out-of-body experience -- like I was floating above in the air and saw myself get hit. But ultimately, I was not seriously injured (just a hairline fracture and a real nasty skin abrasion).

Emily H

And another question! I've heard recently about "shared death experiences" where caregivers or others present at a death have similar experiences to NDE. A thing, or flim-flam?

Pacheecha

It's hard to articulate this question, but here goes. Is it possible that religious expectations that someone will meet and greet you when you die actually create that experience? Or the going toward the light bit? As an agnostic and a skeptic about "the afterlife", I'm wondering if that's the power of suggestion, if there's a scientific explanation, or an actual spiritual reality. And I get that this question may not be answerable!

Photo Geegee

Do you have to be actually injured to have a near death experience? Because I came out of a car accident completely unscathed but I swear I had my whole life flash before my eyes... saw every moment that ever happened, every moment that would happen after I was gone, and made peace with everything by the time my car landed in the ditch.

Photo Geegee

My partner has had a few near death experiences and when I asked if he'd like to pose a question to an expert, he immediately responded with "why did I get to stay?" I know that's pretty esoteric but now I'm wondering, do people tend to have a renewed sense or purpose or, alternatively, a sense of despair after a near death experience?

Teale Vee

I was already severely anxious with my addict son living with me again. Depression had me deep. And then he died. It almost killed me. 2 weeks later I went down hard. Collapsed at work, waiting for EMTs I looked up and a tunnel was opening above me I called out to my son and he said “No Mommadukes, it’s not your time” I screamed no! But the tunnel closed and here I am. Could this be true? Powers of God, power of the mind? I was shaken

TJ Mckenna

When people say their lives “flash before their eyes” what is the brain doing? Is it remembering things or it is just a neurochemical released that we feel?

Bekah Jordan

I am also curious if the expert has had an NDE.

Kieran H

I read “Evidence of the Afterlife” by Jeffrey Long earlier this year and it soothed some of my existential anxiety about death and dying. My question is, what would you say to people who want to completely write off NDEs as being caused by some sort of easily-explainable thing (I’ve heard people say it’s caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, some sort of chemical reaction, your retinas detaching(????), etc), rather than the complex and still not-fully-understood phenomenon that they actually are?

daniel schmaniel

is there a difference between the near-death experiences of people actually almost dying and the fear of dying, like surviving a car crash vs almost crashing?

Scott Anderson

How has the definition of death evolved and what does that mean for what is considered “near death”?

Valerie

TW: Suicide. I have heard many anecdotal accounts from people that have survived suicide attempts that there was a feeling of regret at the last second. I lost a sibling to suicide when I was young and would like to believe that they regretted making that decision. Much love, thank you.

Gaelicpearl

Have you read Passages by Connie Willis? It's an incredible story about a doctor studying near death experiences and I'd be curious to hear how accurate the science in it is.

Emma is Rosey

Why does it feel like time slows down when you have a traumatic event? I was in a scary car crash this year and I was sure I was gonna kick it and it felt like I was experiencing it in slow mo! Crazy. (Luckily not hurt!!)

Emma is Rosey

Do you think that what people see in near death experiences is changed by beliefs? Have you heard of different stories from people in other parts of the world?

Sonjabird

Where is the line between near-death and death? For those that have lived to tell, how far have people gone into death and still come back? How much cell death has taken place? What are some of the after- effects and resulting damage?

Jacob Brandon

So in the whole world - how common are near death experiences? Is it likely I could have one BEFORE I die?

Matt Hirschl

Similar to passing away, is there a “light” seen during near death experiences?

Hezy Anholt

What do you think of the saying, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger?" (I personally lean towards nope)

Violsk

How do they collect data about those experiences to make them "measurable" and study them?

Allison Muller

REALLY like this question. I hope there’s some research out there…

Pavka34

I second Emma is Rosy’s question about time slowing down during traumatic events.

Pavka34

I’d heard a doctor or scientist say years ago that near death experiences could have something to do with the brain desperately shifting energy around before completely shutting down. Is there any truth to this? Did I hear wrong or misunderstand?

Allison Muller

Hi! This one’s from my own Dad-bot:

Allison Muller

“Is there a significant percentage of people who report seeing loved ones who have passed on before?”

Allison Muller

Why does psilocybin have the after effect of being at peace with death? Wish I could remember my source for this…possibly a Michael Pollen interview about his newer book…

Paul Rosen

After my Mom had surgery I saw her in the ICO when she was just barely getting conscious. She was mostly incoherent but she said she heard the doctor say "we're losing her". I tried to get her to elaborate but couldn't. She is a very non-spiritual person who doesn't believe in an afterlife. She didn't remember that later. Can you shed any light on what that could have meant?

Sadie Vipond

Comments on the story of Orpheus?

Merryn Lush

“How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan (the book, not the Netflix show) has a ton of insight on this. Definitely worth the read if the concept interests you. It’s also excellent as an audiobook because he narrates it himself and he is truly the best. I wish he was an ologist.

Gemma

does a persons prior spirituality and belief in an afterlife impact the occurrence or themes in a NDE?

Clayton Harding

First time question asker. I have heard many times of a study, where a shelf was put high on the wall of the room of patients if they were to die and were revived. they would ask what pictude was on the shelf. I've heard people got it right many times. Is this a real thing? It sounds improbable. Is there any truth to this at all.

Maren Prophit

Have you ever watched Over the Garden Wall? What do you think of the representation / interpretation of that space between life and death?

Clayton Harding

First time question asker, my wife would like to know: I know a person who had a loved one who had a near death experience. Afterwards they told me they no longer believed their loved one was the same person, due to their changed personality. They believed a different soul had entered their loved ones body. I have heard similar stories before. Is there some conection between near death experience and change in personality. Or another rational explanation for this?

Allison Muller

Yes! I didn't want to plug his book specifically but that is the one I was talking about. Waiting for my Dadbot to finish so I can borrow...and apologies for my misspelling of Pollan! I've loved him since The Omnivore's Dilemma!

Donald Merritt

*I had such an experience when I was about 8 years old, or 58 years ago. I think it effected my life tremendously. Has anyone looked into the long term effects on children to whom this has happened?

Zuza

Is there any similar experience to NDE? Fainting? Sleep? Some drugs? In terms of perceived experience and/or scientific results (e.g. same patterns in brain's MRI, EEG, etc.)

Teresa & David

conversely, does a person's *lack* of spirituality or belief in an afterlife impact their their NDE? ie, is there any research on how atheists experience NDE?

Amanda Lask

Is it true that the light at the end of the tunnel and the feeling of euphoria that many people experience is all just a gush of chemicals in the brain to relax you before death?

theWhollyGhost

So.... the whole idea that your brain releases DMT during a near-death experience is bunk, right?

Earl of Greymalkin

1) How have near-death experiences influenced religion/myth/storytelling traditions? 2) How many different types of near-death experiences are there? Can they be categorized? What about near-near-death experiences? At what point does something become near-death? 3) Are there recommended therapeutic practices for people to deal with their responses to near-death events? What about when interacting with someone who had a close shave? 4) Any thoughts on the idea that in a parallel universe maybe it wasn't so near? 5) Is there any evidence that other animals have similar responses? 6) Are civilian NDEs versus military NDEs different? 7) Are destructive intrusive thoughts related to NDEs at all? 8) What are some uncommon types of responses to NDEs? 9) Can people have something like NDEs by being in proximity to to someone who dies? Literally near to a death but not one's own? 10) Do you think horror movies sometimes attempt to achieve NDE in a safe manner? Do they ever achieve it?

My Favorite Tony

1st time question asker: does cultural background affect NDEs?

EvasiveDodge

has anyone done an MRI on a dying person to see whats going on in the brain?

Cori

First time question asker: How are different kinds of near death experiences affected by factors such as age, gender, culture, or religion?

David Villafranco

Can I ask more than one question? Does your body actually release DMT right before you die is that what causes you to see "God"? What's going on with that.

Danira Garcia Gutierrez

1st time question asker: How/why does it feel like "time slows down" when you have a near death experience? Is there a way to trigger this response outside of nearly dying?

river stone

Okay but can we please talk about the OA? Transcendence, inducing NDEs for fucked up research, receiving messages/movements from 'the beyond', and way more than I could ever fit into a reasonably-sized question

Paper Wasp Enthusiast

I'm also interested in NDEs in animals, is there a point in the evolutionary timeline where reflection or behavioral change happens? I feel like something deemed "intelligent" is capable of realizing it survived a dangerous situation, but what about something like an earthworm or dragonfly?

Deli Dames

do people report they can see/hear ghosts after??

Schlee Schwinghammer

1st time question asker, when I had a near death experience I saw the "bright white light" as a snow storm coming in. My question is why is it the color white people tend to see?

Merryn Lush

Oh yes that one was life changing!

Chris Whitman

Same question. Years ago I read this book by by Rick Strassman about DMT (DMT - The Spirit Molecule). He talked about NDE being a temporary DMT high. Not the nearly dying part, but the experience.

Chris Whitman

What is the best movie involving a NDE and why is it "Jacob's Ladder"?

H Magario

I was recently told that hearing is the last sense to go when someone is dying. Is it also the first sense to come back? When I was a kid I used to faint a lot and I remember coming back at first I could kinda hear people talking but had like zero sense of my own existence. But, fainting maybe not a reasonable comparison to NDE?

Chris Whitman

Brought this up in another question. A guy named Rick Strassman wrote a book about doing DMT testing on humans and found a connection. I hope they talk about this!

Chris Whitman

There have been various scientific studies done over the years about the "weight of a soul". If the soul does have weight, have any studies on NDE attempted to weigh the subject during the experience?

SmoothKriminal

Do we know anything about how the physiology of the brain/neural connections change after a near death experience (if at all?)

fleeby

Do interpretations of the meaning of NDEs vary between cultures and religions?

BeckytheSassySeagrassScientist

How do we science people welcome s make that sco comm connection to different audiences? What's the magic? How do we develop that superpower?

Heidi M.

Came here to ask the same!

Heidi M.

Sheer curiosity compels me to ask what "extra sensory experiences" you have had. I fully respect if you are not comfortable sharing but as someone who does not have this ability I'm intrigued at what the human body is capable of.

Nick Lange

Based on your understanding of the research and discoveries to date: - Do you have any conclusions as to what god is? - Do you have a sense of what defines a good life? - Do you have any advice for people who suffer from insecurities based on what you understand and related issues of depression or relationship issues? 🙏🏻

Filipa Quadrado

First time posting a question, but I just read an amazing/horrifying book (“Recursion”, by Blake Crouch) and need to know if it is true or fiction: quoting the book now “in tiny doses, released into our brains at night, DMT (dimethyltriptamine) is responsible for our dreams. But at the moment of death, the pineal gland releases a veritable flood of DMT. A going-out-of-business sale. It’s the reason people see things when they die, such as racing through a tunnel toward a light, or their entire life flashing before their eyes.” This is mind blowing and now near death experiences make so much more sense to me! But… is this true? Thanks for Ologies in my life, Filipa

Rachel Cannon

Does this expert know anything about past lives? Like those stories about kids who have clearly inherited someone else's consciousness? So is reincarnation real? Is reincarnation related to near-death experiences? If you were an asshole for most of your life and have a NDE, do you then become less of an asshole in your second chance at life (see: A Christmas Carol)? Got any good stories about that?

tiny nature

Has there ever been a situation where two people who are simultaneously having a NDE (for example, both in a car crash) actually meet with each other in their NDE experience?

Ja Jo: Art & Craft

Are NDE stories similar across different cultures around the world? How do they differ?

Colleen Sellwood

What's the chance that people have similar experiences mentally because we've heard others stories and want to believe there's something after this life? Is it all a delusion?

Kelly A McConnell

I 2nd this question. I’ve heard that before & find it super interesting.

Sharon

Do people who have been in a deep comas or have been unconscious have near death experiences?

ניצן שליט Nitzan Shalit

do we know anything about blind people NDE? if so, is it visual? and also just wanted put it out there: The OA!

Regenerative Baking (by Dressler Parsons)

I can’t see if anyone else asked this already but— has this Ologist seen The OA, and if so, is any of the discussion about NDEs scientifically accurate? Also I’m a first time question asker :)

Sriya Karra

Why is a bright white light commonly reported in near-death experiences, and if you could choose, what color would you prefer to encounter? (Sree-yuh Kuh-Ruh)

FlowerHittelman

What's the thing about floating above your own body and looking down on what's going on? I mean, I have that experience sort of whenever I'm slouching into a networking event, or headed towards a speaker's podium, or at parties where I was the only person who actually took the invitation by its word and dressed in the theme because here in Washington DC unlike L.A. nobody ever actually wears a costume probably because they are too self-important... How is near-death out-of-body similar to that? From a scientific point of view.

Meeps

Does having a NDE typically cause a shift in how people view death - like does it alleviate some fear and anxiety around death or make it worse?

Griffin Russell

DMT released from pineal gland upon death, truth or flimflam??

Savannah Jessop

Is this something we are supposed to experience? Gasp what if we have made our existence too comfy to experience this like our ancestors did. Are we fucking up evolutionary process and replacing high anxiety with an NDE?

DON BERNSTEIN

Is there some way to simulate a near death experience without being a death abutter?

Audrey Hudak

Do children experience near death experiences differently than adults?

Darren Bush

When I was a teenager, I was walking with a friend on a fairly quiet road, when a car came around the corner and hit her. It was dark and he didn't see us. She flew 40 or 50 feet and landed in the road, and died in the hospital an hour or so later. I felt the wind from the car as it passed and I can close my eyes and see the whole thing in slow motion. That was over 40 years ago and it's still there. It will always be there. I never had the whole "why wasn't it me?" thing, but I wonder why was it her. Not sure if that counts, but it counted to me. And please don't use my real name. I would hate it if her family heard any of this.

Annette Kasprzak

Is it ever a good idea to point out someone else’s near death experience if they seem to have missed it? Does it loose its gravity if you have to point it out?

sigpig

is NDE linked to oxygen deprivation in the brain? i'm guessing that would result in the brain doing weird things, but it might be reasonable to suppose that it would be the same weird thing for different people - is that why many NDE-survivors describe the same thing (bright light at the end of a long tunnel)?

Audrey Hudak

I know you have already recorded episode because I just listened and I am shook. Completely shook. I had a out of body NDE experience when I was 7 years old after a traumatic injury - My brain had me floating about my own body watching the surgeons put my my noggin back together in the operating room. Now I am a healthcare administrator and I use my skills and abilities to help people every day. I've always known that I'm not afraid to die. Ali, I am shook.