NoeticMap
How can I help?
Ask about NDEs, research, or this page
TL;DR
Near-death experiences are among the most well-documented anomalous phenomena in medical literature. Thousands of independent accounts from people of all ages, cultures, and belief systems describe remarkably consistent elements. Whether they represent evidence of consciousness beyond the brain or a complex neurological process remains one of the most debated questions in science.
The question of whether NDEs are "real" depends on what we mean by real. As documented experiences reported by real people, they are indisputably real — thousands of individuals across every demographic describe them independently. The more nuanced question is what they represent: a glimpse of something beyond physical existence, or a product of the dying brain.
What is striking about the data is the consistency. Despite coming from people of vastly different backgrounds, ages, and medical circumstances, NDEs cluster around a recognizable set of elements: feelings of peace, out-of-body perception, movement through darkness toward light, encounters with deceased relatives, and a life review. This consistency is one of the strongest arguments that something meaningful is occurring, whether the explanation is neurological or otherwise.
Academic research on NDEs spans over four decades. The landmark AWARE study (2014) by Dr. Sam Parnia and colleagues was the first large-scale prospective study of cardiac arrest survivors, finding that 9% of patients reported NDEs and 2% had full awareness with explicit recall during a period when the brain was not functioning. Dr. Pim van Lommel's prospective study of 344 cardiac arrest patients in the Netherlands, published in The Lancet (2001), found that 18% reported NDEs — and that neither medical factors, medication, nor psychological variables could predict who would have one.
The consistency of NDE elements across cultures has been documented by researchers including Dr. Bruce Greyson, who developed the standardized Greyson NDE Scale used to measure NDE depth. His research showed that NDEs do not correlate with religious belief, expectation of death, or prior knowledge of NDEs.
Patients who score higher on the Greyson NDE Scale will show greater scores on mysticism and purpose in life tests
not reported · n = not explicitly stated · p not explicitly stated · effect size: not reported · CI: not reported
DMT-induced near-death experiences are comparable to actual NDEs
not reported · n = 13 · p p = 0.089 · effect size: Cohen's d = 0.49 · CI: not reported
18% of patients reported a near-death experience (NDE) during cardiac arrest
18% · n = 62
37.5 percent of respondents who had come close to death had an authentic NDE, according to Greyson's criterion.
37.5% · n = 24
Combat near-death experiencers (cNDErs) reported significantly fewer and/or less intense NDE features overall than variety-of-circumstances NDErs reported in Greyson’s 2001 study, with a large effect size.
29% · n = 24 · p p < .0001 · effect size: -1.26
Near-death experiences (NDEs) cause a profound reality/identity context shift or 'ontological shift'.
80% · n = 8
Several scientific hypotheses have been proposed to explain NDEs. The oxygen deprivation (cerebral anoxia) hypothesis suggests that lack of oxygen to the brain creates hallucination-like experiences. However, NDEs also occur in situations where oxygen levels are normal, and the experiences are far more structured and consistent than typical anoxia-induced hallucinations.
The endorphin hypothesis proposes that the brain releases natural opioids during trauma, creating feelings of peace and euphoria. While this may account for the peaceful component, it does not explain the complex narrative elements like life reviews, veridical perceptions, or encounters with specific deceased individuals.
The REM intrusion hypothesis suggests NDEs are a form of rapid eye movement sleep intruding into waking consciousness. This could explain some visual and emotional components but struggles to account for NDEs occurring during flat EEG readings when REM activity should be impossible.
The temporal lobe hypothesis links NDEs to seizure-like activity in the temporal lobe. While temporal lobe stimulation can produce some NDE-like fragments (such as a sense of presence or life review elements), the full, coherent NDE narrative has never been reproduced through brain stimulation.
Where these hypotheses converge is significant: no single neurological mechanism adequately explains all features of NDEs, particularly the veridical (verifiable) perceptions reported by some experiencers — such as accurately describing events in other rooms during cardiac arrest. This gap between theory and data is what keeps the scientific debate active and genuinely open.
NDEs are real documented experiences reported by thousands of people across all demographics, cultures, and belief systems
The consistency of NDE elements across independent accounts is one of the phenomenon's most striking features
Multiple scientific hypotheses exist (oxygen deprivation, endorphins, REM intrusion, temporal lobe activity) but none fully explain all NDE features
Prospective studies in cardiac arrest patients show NDEs occur even when measurable brain activity is absent
Veridical perceptions — where experiencers accurately report events they could not have physically witnessed — remain unexplained by current neuroscience
Whether NDEs represent consciousness beyond the brain or an as-yet-undiscovered brain mechanism is an open scientific question
The information on this page is drawn from Noeticmap's database of 8,940 documented near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and related accounts, as well as 7 peer-reviewed academic research papers. Experiences are sourced primarily from NDERF.org, OBERF.org, and ADCRF.org.
Each experience has been analyzed using established research frameworks including the Greyson NDE Scale (a standardized 32-point measure of NDE depth), element detection, and sentiment analysis. We present the data as objectively as possible — the quotes and statistics reflect what experiencers reported, not our interpretations.
Was this article helpful?
Search related experiences
Use semantic search to find more accounts related to this topic
NDEs are triggered by a wide range of medical events including cardiac arrest, drowning, severe trauma, surgical complications, and serious illness. No single physiological mechanism has been identified as the definitive cause. The fact that the same core experience occurs across vastly different medical triggers is one of the most significant findings in NDE research.
Several scientific theories have been proposed to explain NDEs, including oxygen deprivation, endorphin release, REM intrusion, and temporal lobe activity. Each accounts for some NDE features but none explains the full phenomenon. The gap between what current neuroscience can explain and what experiencers consistently report remains one of the most active debates in consciousness research.
There are documented cases of blind individuals — including people blind from birth — reporting detailed visual perceptions during NDEs. These accounts describe seeing light, colors, landscapes, and people in terms consistent with sighted experiencers. These cases are among the most challenging findings for purely neurological explanations of NDEs, since people who have never had visual experience should not be able to generate visual imagery.
Get insights from our consciousness research delivered to your inbox. No spam, just meaningful updates.