Near-death studies
Template:Short description Near-death studies is a field of research that studies the near-death experience (NDE). The field was originally associated with a distinct group of North American researchers that followed up on the initial work of Raymond Moody, and who later established the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) and the Journal of Near-Death Studies. Since then the field has expanded, and now includes contributions from a wide range of researchers and commentators worldwide. Research on near-death experiences is mainly limited to the disciplines of medicine, psychology and psychiatry.
Research – history and background
Precursors
According to the Handbook of Near-Death Experiences, traces of the Near-death experience can be located in ancient texts, such as Plato's Dialogues.<ref name="HandBook-Field">Template:Cite book</ref> During the 1880s and 1890s, near-death phenomena were part of the investigation of paranormal phenomena.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely">Walker, Barbara & Serdahely, William. Historical Perspectives on Near-Death Phenomena. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 9(2) Winter 1990, pp. 105-121</ref> Precursors to the field of near-death studies include the work of paranormal investigators, such as William Crookes and Frederick W.H. Myers, and the work of parapsychological societies, such as the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in England, and its American counterpart.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> The work attracted skepticism from contemporary branches of science.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> Also in the 1800s, two efforts moved beyond studying individual cases—one privately done by Mormons and one in Switzerland.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> According to sources <ref name="Kopel Webb 2022">Template:Cite journal</ref> the first academic note on a near-death experience was reported by Albert von St. Gallen Heim in 1892.
The early 1900s was a period of disinterest in the topic, only marked by occasional contributions, including the commentaries of Gardner Murphy and the research of Donald West. In 1948 West investigated the occurrence of psi-phenomena in a small sample of the British population. He found that "14 percent of his sample had undergone a hallucinatory experience and 9 percent had reported seeing apparitions of the dead".<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> During the 1970s the work of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross attracted attention and she addressed the topic publicly.<ref name="Noble 2004">Noble, Holcomb B. "Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, 78, Dies; Psychiatrist Revolutionized Care of the Terminally Ill." New York Times, August 26, 2004</ref><ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> Interest in the topic was also spurred by autobiographical accounts, such as the books of George Ritchie.<ref name="Griffith">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Slayton 2007">Slayton, Jeremy. "Death Notice: George Gordon Ritchie Jr dies". Richmond Times Dispatch, online, October 31, 2007</ref>
Formative period – early profiles
Commentators<ref name="Kinsella 2017">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Loseu et al.">Loseu, Saharnaz et al. The Field of Near-Death Studies Through 2011: An Updated Analysis of the Scholarly Periodical Literature. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 31(4), Summer 2013</ref><ref name="Cant et al 2012">Template:Cite journal</ref> note that the launch of the field of near-death studies started with work of Raymond Moody. Moody got interested in the subject of near-death experiences at the start of his career. In the mid-seventies, while doing his medical residency as a psychiatrist at the University of Virginia, he conducted interviews with near-death experiencers.<ref name="Graves 2007">Graves, Lee. Altered States. Scientists analyze the near-death experience. The University of Virginia Magazine, Summer 2007 Feature</ref> He later published these findings in the book Life After Life (1976).<ref>Moody Raymond A. (1976). Life after life : the investigation of a phenomenon – survival of bodily death. Harrisburg, Pa. : Stackpole Books.</ref><ref name="Kinsella 2017" /> In the book Moody outlines the different elements of the NDE. These features were picked up by later researchers, and the book brought public attention to the topic of NDEs.<ref name="Mauro 1992">Mauro, James. Bright lights, big mystery. Psychology Today, July 1992</ref><ref name="Graves 2007"/> Early contributions to the field of near-death studies also include the work of Russell Noyes, who collected NDE stories from personal accounts and medical records.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/><ref name="Loseu et al."/> According to commentators his work signalled the first big shift in perspective within the field, pulling the methodology away from parapsychology and towards the principles of medicine.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> In the 1970s Noyes and Kletti reported on the phenomenon of depersonalization related to life-threatening danger.<ref name="Noyes & Kletti 1976">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Loseu et al."/> According to literature,<ref name="Loseu et al."/> Noyes and Kletti's 1977-article, "Depersonalization in Response to Life-threatening Danger",<ref name="Noyes & Kletti 1977">Template:Cite journal</ref> is the most cited article in the field of Near-death studies, as of 2011.
In 1977 a group researchers met in Charlottesville, Virginia, in order to prepare further investigations of the NDE-phenomenon. The late seventies saw the establishment of the Association for the Scientific Study of Near-Death Phenomena, an initial group of academic researchers, including John Audette, Raymond Moody, Bruce Greyson, Kenneth Ring and Michael Sabom, who laid the foundations for the field of near-death studies, and carried out some of the first NDE research in the wake of Moody's work.<ref name="The Guardian 2025">Blasdel, Alex. The new science of death: 'There's something happening in the brain that makes no sense'. www.theguardian.com, Tue 2 Apr 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2025.</ref><ref name="Kinsella 2017" /><ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> The Association was a forerunner to the International Association for Near-death Studies (IANDS), which was founded in the early eighties and which established its headquarters at the University of Connecticut, Storrs.<ref>New York Times staff. Connecticut Guide; Near-death Symposium. New York Times, April 25, 1982</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> One of the first publications associated with this group of researchers was a treatment of several NDE case-reports originally collected by Fred Schoonmaker. The treatment was carried out and published by John Audette in 1979.<ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> This group of researchers, but especially Ring, was responsible for launching Anabiosis, the first peer-reviewed journal within the field. The journal later became Journal of Near-Death Studies.<ref name="Griffith"/>
Even though NDEs were introduced to the academic setting, the subject was often met with academic disbelief,<ref name="Bush 1991">Bush, Nancy Evans. "Is Ten Years a Life Review?" Journal of Near-Death Studies, 10(1) Fall 1991</ref> or regarded as taboo.<ref name="Mauro 1992"/> The medical community has been reluctant to address the phenomenon of NDEs,<ref name="Mauro 1992"/><ref name="Graves 2007"/> and funding for research has been limited.<ref name="Mauro 1992"/> However, both Ring and Sabom made contributions that were influential for the newly established field. Ring published a book in 1980 called Life at Death: A Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience.<ref>Ring, K. (1980a). Life at death: A scientific investigation of the near-death experience. New York, NY: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan.</ref><ref name="Asher">Asher, Catherine G. Book review: Ring, Kenneth. Life at Death: a scientific investigation of the near-death experience. Library Journal, September 15, 1980, page 1870</ref><ref name="Walker & Serdahely"/> In the book Ring identified the core near-death experience, with its corresponding stages.<ref name="Hamby">Hamby, Warren C. Reviewed Work(s): Life at Death: A Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience by Kenneth Ring. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 21, No. 3 (Sep., 1982), pp. 289-290</ref> This early research was followed in 1984 by Ring's book Heading Toward Omega: In Search of the Meaning of the Near-Death Experience,<ref name="Ring 2000"/><ref>Ring, K. (1984). Heading toward omega: In search of the meaning of the near-death experience.New York, NY: William Morrow.</ref> where he described the mystical and transcendent features of the NDE, and the futuristic visions described by near-death experiencers.<ref name="Buehler">Buehler, David A. Book review: Ring, Kenneth. Heading Toward Omega: is search of the meaning of the near-death experience. Library Journal, August 1984, page 1455</ref> The early work of Michael Sabom also brought attention within the academic community. Besides contributing material to academic journals,<ref name="Sabom 1980">Sabom, M. B. The near-death experience. JAMA 1980 Jul 4;244(1): 29–30.</ref> he wrote a book called Recollections of Death (1982)<ref name="Sabom 1982">Sabom, M. (1982). Recollections of death: A medical investigation. New York, NY: Harper and Row.</ref> which is considered to be a significant publication in the launching of the field.<ref name="Ring 2000"/>
Some of the early retrospective work was being carried out by Greyson and Stevenson who published their findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1980. The authors used questionnaires, interviews, and medical records in order to study the phenomenology of NDEs and suggested that social and psychological factors explained some, but not all, components of the NDE.<ref name="Greyson & Stevenson">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Olvera-Lopeza">Template:Cite journal</ref> Greyson has also addressed different aspects of the NDE, such as the psychodynamics of the experience,<ref name="Greyson 1983b">Template:Cite journal</ref> the typology of NDEs,<ref name="Greyson 1985">Template:Cite journal</ref> the varieties of NDEs,<ref name="Greyson 1993">Template:Cite journal</ref> and the biology of NDEs.<ref name="Greyson 1998">Greyson B. "Biological aspects of near-death experiences". Perspect Biol Med. 1998 Autumn;42(1): 14–32.</ref> In addition, he brought attention to the NDE as a focus of clinical attention,<ref name="Greyson 1997">Template:Cite journal</ref> suggesting that the aftermath of the NDE, in some cases, can lead to psychological problems. As research in the field progressed, both Greyson and Ring developed measurement tools that can be used in a clinical setting.<ref name="Greyson 1983">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Ring 1980">Ring, Kenneth. (1980) Life at death. A scientific investigation of the near-death experience. New York: Coward McCann and Geoghenan.</ref><ref name="Griffith"/> According to Kinsella,<ref name="Kinsella 2017" /> no other researcher, besides Moody, has done more to "influence public opinion on the subject of NDEs" than Kenneth Ring.
The 1980s also introduced the research of Melvin Morse, who profiled near-death studies.<ref name="Maryles">Maryles, Daisy. Behind the bestsellers. Publishers Weekly. 240.20 (May 17, 1993): p. 17. From Literature Resource Center.</ref> Morse and colleagues<ref name="Morse M, Conner D, Tyler D. 1985">Morse M, Conner D, Tyler D. "Near-death experiences in a pediatric population. A preliminary report". American Journal of Diseases of Children, Jun;139(6): 595–600, 1985</ref><ref name="Morse et al. 1986">Morse M, Castillo P, Venecia D, Milstein J, Tyler DC. "Childhood near-death experiences". American Journal of Diseases of Children, Nov;140(11): 1110–14, 1986</ref> investigated NDEs in a pediatric population. They found that children reported NDEs that were similar to those described by adults. Morse later published two books, co-authored with Paul Perry, that were aimed at a general audience: Closer to the light: learning from children's near-death experiences (1990)<ref>Morse, Melvin (with Paul Perry) (1990) Closer to the light : learning from children's near-death experiences. New York : Villard Books</ref> and Transformed by the light: the powerful effect of near-death experiences on people's lives (1992).<ref>Morse, Melvin (with Paul Perry) (1992) Transformed by the light : the powerful effect of near-death experiences on people's lives. New York : Villard Books</ref> British neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick started to collect NDE stories in the 1980s, following their appearances in television programs.<ref>Fenwick, Peter & Mensel, Lars. I'm no longer afraid of death. The European, 10.03.2013, www.theeuropean.de, retrieved January 5, 2023</ref><ref name="Loseu et al."/> The responses from near-death experiencers later served as the basis for his book published in 1997, The Truth in the light, co-authored with his wife Elizabeth Fenwick.<ref>Fenwick, Peter and Fenwick, Elizabeth (1997). The truth in the light: an investigation of over 300 near-death experiences. New York : Berkley Books</ref> In the book the authors investigated more than 300 NDEs and concluded that the "subjective experience" is the key to understanding the phenomenon of NDEs.<ref name="Eastman">Template:Cite journal</ref> Co-operating with other researchers, such as Sam Parnia, Fenwick has reviewed<ref name="Parnia Spearpoint Fenwick 2007">Template:Cite journal</ref> and researched the potential relationship between near-death experiences and cardiac arrest <ref name="Parnia et al. 2001">Parnia S, Waller DG, Yeates R, Fenwick P: A qualitative and quantitative study of the incidence, features and aetiology of near death experiences in cardiac arrest survivors. Resuscitation 2001, 48:149-156.</ref> Early investigations into the topic of near-death experiences were also conducted at the University of Virginia, where Ian Stevenson founded the Division of Perceptual Studies in the late sixties.<ref name="Graves 2007"/> The division went on to produce research on a number of phenomena that were not considered to be mainstream. In addition to near-death experiences this included: reincarnation and past lives, out-of-body experiences, apparitions and after-death communications, and deathbed visions.<ref name="Graves 2007"/><ref name="Fox 2007">Fox, Margalit. "Ian Stevenson Dies at 88; Studied Claims of Past Lives". New York Times, February 18, 2007</ref> Stevenson, whose main academic interest was the topic of reincarnation and past lives,<ref name="Wallis 1999">Wallis, David. "Conversations/Dr. Ian Stevenson; You May Be Reading This In Some Future Past Life". New York Times, September 26, 1999</ref><ref name="Cadoret 2005">Cadoret, Remi J. "Book Forum: European Cases of the Reincarnation Type". Am J Psychiatry 162: 823–24, April 2005</ref> also made contributions to the field of near-death studies.<ref name="Owens Cook Stevenson 1990">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Stevenson Cook 1995">Stevenson I, Cook EW. Involuntary memories during severe physical illness or injury. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 1995 Jul;183(7): 452–58.</ref> In a 1990 study, co-authored with Owens and Cook, the researchers studied the medical records of 58 people who were thought to have been near death. The authors judged 28 candidates to actually have been close to dying, while 30 candidates, who merely thought they were about to die, were judged to not have been in any medical danger. Both groups reported similar experiences, but the first group reported more features of the core NDE than the other group.<ref name="Mauro 1992"/><ref name="Owens Cook Stevenson 1990"/>
According to Loseu and colleagues,<ref name="Loseu et al."/> who published an analysis of the published literature in the field of near-death studies, there was a peak in the output of articles in the 15-year period between 1980 and 1995, followed by a decreasing trend.
Later period – new profiles, prospective studies
The first decades of near-death research were characterized by retrospective studies.<ref name="Griffith"/><ref name="Parnia et al. 2001"/><ref name="van Lommel et al. 2001">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="French 2005">French, Christopher C. Near-death experiences in cardiac arrest survivors, in S. Laureys (Ed.) (2005) Progress in Brain Research, Vol. 150</ref><ref name="French 2001"/><ref name="Greyson 2013">Template:Cite journal</ref> From 1975 to 2005, some 2500 self reported individuals in the US had been reviewed in retrospective studies of the phenomena<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> with an additional 600 outside the US in the West,<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> and 70 in Asia.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> However, the late 1980s marked the beginning of prospective studies in the field. Prospective studies (which are more expensive) review groups of individuals and find who had an NDE. They had identified 270 individuals by 2005.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> Kovoor and colleagues performed a scoping review of research on NDE's in Cardiac Arrest situations. They identified a total of 60 prospective studies, 11 of which were included in their review (Table 1).<ref name="Kovoor et al 2024">Template:Cite journal.</ref>
Pim van Lommel (cardiologist) was one of the first researchers to bring the study of NDEs into the area of Hospital Medicine. In 1988 he launched a prospective study that spanned 10 Dutch hospitals. 344 survivors of cardiac arrest were included in the study.<ref name="van Lommel et al. 2001"/><ref name="Metzger 2011">Metzger JC, et al.: Year in review 2010: Critical Care – cardiac arrest and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Critical Care 2011, 15:239 doi:10.1186/cc10540</ref><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/><ref name="Orlando 2021">Orlando, A. (2021). Death Defying. Discover, 42(6), 50–58.</ref> 62 patients (18%) reported NDE. 41 of these patients (12%) described a core experience. The aim of the study was to investigate the cause of the experience, and assess variables connected to frequency, depth, and content.<ref name="van Lommel et al. 2001"/> Prospective studies were also taking place in the U.S. Schwaninger and colleagues<ref name="Scwaninger et al. 2002">Schwaninger J, Eisenberg PR, Schechtman KB, Weiss AN. A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 20(4), Summer 2002</ref><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024" /> collaborated with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, where they studied cardiac arrest patients over a three-year period (April 1991 – February 1994). Only a minority of the patients survived, and from this group 30 patients were interviewable. Of these 30 patients 23% reported an NDE, while 13% reported an NDE during "a prior life-threatening illness".
In a prospective study from 2001, conducted at Southampton General Hospital, Parnia and colleagues found that 11.1% of 63 cardiac-arrest survivors reported memories of their unconscious period. Several of these memories included NDE features.<ref name="Parnia et al. 2001"/><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024" />Template:Ref Greyson<ref name="Greyson 2003b"/><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024" /> conducted a 30-month survey of patients admitted to the cardiac inpatient service of the University of Virginia Hospital. He found that NDEs were reported by 10% of patients with cardiac arrest and 1% of other cardiac patients. Up to 2005, 95% of world cultures have been documented making some mention of NDEs.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> In all, close to 3500 individual cases between 1975 and 2005 had been reviewed by some 55 researchers or teams of researchers.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/>
During the next decade, prospective studies were also starting to emerge from other parts of the world. In a study from 2010 Klemenc-Ketis and colleagues reported on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors, later admitted to intensive care units, at medical centers in Slovenia. 21.2% of the patients in the study reported NDEs. The researchers also found that "NDE occur more often in patients with higher petCO2 and pCO2"; "higher serum levels of potassium correlate with higher score on Greyson's NDE scale"; and "NDEs occur more often in patients with previous NDEs".<ref name="Klemenc-Ketis 2010">Klemenc-Ketis et al.: The effect of carbon dioxide on near-death experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors: a prospective observational study. Critical Care 2010 14:R56.</ref><ref name="Metzger 2011"/><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024" />
Based on the results from an analysis of scholarly NDE-related periodical literature, the decade between 2001 and 2011 signaled an expansion of the field of near-death studies by including new authors and new publication venues.<ref name="Loseu et al."/> Research has also entered into other fields of interest, such as the mental health of military veterans. Goza, Holden & Kinsey studied NDEs among combat veterans. They found, among other things, that combat soldiers reported "less intense" near-death experiences, compared to NDErs in the civilian population.<ref name="Goza et al.">Goza, Tracy H., Holden, Janice M. & Kinsey, Lee. Combat Near-Death Experiences: An Exploratory Study. Military Medicine, 179,10:1113, 2014</ref> The work of Goza and others is now known as Combat-related NDEs.<ref name="Cant et al 2012"/><ref name="Evrard et al 2022">Template:Cite journal</ref>
The first clinical paper from The AWARE-project (AWAreness during REsuscitation), another prospective study, was published in 2014. The research was a multicenter observational study including US, UK and Austrian medical sites.<ref name="Parnia et al. 2014">Parnia S, et al. AWARE – AWAreness during REsuscitation – A prospective study. Resuscitation, Vol. 85, Issue 12, p1799-1805, December 01, 2014.</ref><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/><ref name="Rice">Rice, DT, Nudell, NG, Habrat, DA, Smith, JE and Ernest, EV, CPR induced consciousness: sedation protocols for this special population. British Paramedic Journal 2016, vol. 1(2) 24–29</ref><ref name="Orlando 2021"/> In the study Parnia and colleagues<ref name="Parnia et al. 2014"/> found that 9% of patients who completed stage 2 interviews reported experiences compatible with NDEs. A follow-up study, AWARE II, was completed in November 2022<ref name="AWARE II">Parnia, S, et al. Awareness During Resuscitation - II: A Multi-Center Study of Consciousness and Awareness in Cardiac Arrest. SSRN, January 11, 2023, [1]</ref> and published in 2023.<ref name="Parnia et al 2023">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024" /><ref name="Zhou & Sun 2024">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Howard 2024">Howard J, Grusd E, Rice D, et al. Development of an international prehospital CPR-induced consciousness guideline: A Delphi study. Paramedicine. 2023;21(2):66-78. doi:10.1177/27536386231215608</ref> The study reported that 28 participants completed interviews, with 11 reporting experiences suggestive of consciousness during cardiac arrest.
As of 2011 Bruce Greyson has the greatest output of material and remains the leading scholar in the field of near-death studies. Other researchers with a large output of material includes P. M. H. Atwater and neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick<ref name="Loseu et al."/>
Explanatory models
Explanatory models for the phenomenology and the elements of the NDE can, according to sources, be divided into three broad categories: psychological, physiological, and transcendental.<ref name="Griffith"/><ref name="Greyson 2015">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Metzger 2011"/> In a study published in 1990, Owens, Cook and Stevenson<ref name="Owens Cook Stevenson 1990" /> presented results that took all three interpretations into consideration. Christian Agrillo<ref name="Agrillo 2011">Agrillo, Christian. Near-Death Experience: Out-of-Body and Out-of-Brain? Review of General Psychology, 2011, Vol. 15, No. 1, 1–10.</ref> notes that literature reports two main theoretical frameworks: (1) "biological/psychological" (in-brain theories), or (2) "survivalist" (out-of-brain theories).
Several researchers in the field have expressed reservations towards explanations that are purely psychological or physiological.<ref name="Griffith"/><ref name="van Lommel et al. 2001" /><ref name="Greyson 2003b">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Greyson 2010">Greyson, Bruce. "Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology". Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, Vol 2(1), Feb 2010, 37–45.</ref> Van Lommel and colleagues<ref name="van Lommel et al. 2001" /> have argued for the inclusion of transcendental categories as part of the explanatory framework. Other researchers, such as Parnia, Fenwick, and Greyson,<ref name="Graves 2007"/><ref name="Greyson 2010"/> have argued for an expanded discussion about the mind-brain relationship as well as the possibilities of human consciousness.
Psychometrics
Several psychometric instruments have been adapted to near-death research. Early contributions included the instruments developed by Kenneth Ring and Bruce Greyson <ref name="Greyson 1983"/><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/> In 1980,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Ring developed the Weighted Core Experience Index in order to measure the depth of NDEs,<ref name="Greyson 1983"/> and this index has been used by other researchers for this purpose.<ref name="Lester">Lester, David. "Depth of Near-Death Experiences and Confounding Factors". Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2003,96, 18.</ref> The index has also been used to measure the impact of near-death experiences on dialysis patients.<ref name="Lai et al. 2007">Lai et al. "Impact of near-death experiences on dialysis patients: a multicenter collaborative study". Am J Kidney Dis. 2007 Jul;50(1): 124–32, 132.e1-2.</ref> According to some commentators<ref name="Griffith"/> the index has improved the consistency in the field. However, Greyson notes that although the index is a "pioneering effort", it is not based on statistical analysis, and has not been tested for internal coherence or reliability.<ref name="Greyson 1983"/> In 1984 Ring developed an instrument called the Life Changes Inventory (LCI) in order to quantify value changes following an NDE. The instrument was later revised and standardized and a new version, the LCI-R, was published in 2004.<ref name="Greyson & Ring 2004">Greyson, Bruce; Ring, Kenneth. "The Life Changes Inventory – Revised." Journal of Near-Death Studies, Vol 23(1), 2004, 41–54.</ref><ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/>
Greyson <ref name="Greyson 1983"/> developed The Near-Death Experience Scale.<ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/><ref name="Evrard et al 2022"/><ref name="West et al 2022">Template:Cite journal</ref> This 16-item scale was found to have high internal consistency, split-half reliability, and test-retest reliability<ref name="Greyson 2003">Greyson, Bruce. "Near-Death Experiences in a Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic Population". Psychiatric Services, Dec., Vol. 54 No. 12. The American Psychiatric Association, 2003</ref><ref name="Greyson 1983"/> and was correlated with Ring's Weighted Core Experience Index. Questions formulated by the scale address such dimensions as: cognition (feelings of accelerated thought, or "life-review"), affect (feelings of peace and joy), paranormal experience (feelings of being outside of the body, or a perception of future events) and transcendence (experience of encountering deceased relatives, or experiencing an unearthly realm). A score of 7 or higher out of a possible 32 was used as the standard criterion for a near-death experience.<ref name="Greyson 2003"/> The scale is, according to the author,<ref name="Greyson 2003"/><ref name="Greyson 1983"/> clinically useful in differentiating NDEs from organic brain syndromes and nonspecific stress responses. The NDE-scale was later found to fit the Rasch rating scale model.<ref>Lange R, Greyson B, Houran J. "A Rasch scaling validation of a 'core' near-death experience". British Journal of Psychology. Volume: 95 Part: 2 pp. 161-177, 2004</ref> The instrument has been used to measure NDEs among cardiac arrest survivors,<ref name="Parnia et al. 2001"/><ref name="Parnia et al. 2014"/> coma survivors,<ref name="Thonnard et al. 2013">Thonnard M, Charland-Verville V, Brédart S, Dehon H, Ledoux D, Laureys S, Vanhaudenhuyse A. Characteristics of near-death experiences memories as compared to real and imagined events memories. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e57620. Mar 27.</ref> out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients/survivors,<ref name="Klemenc-Ketis 2010"/><ref name="Klemenc-Ketis 2013">Klemenc-Ketis Z. "Life changes in patients after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: the effect of near-death experiences". Int J Behav Med. 2013 Mar;20(1): 7–12.</ref><ref name="Martens 1994">Martens PR. "Near-death-experiences in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survivors. Meaningful phenomena or just fantasy of death?" Resuscitation. 1994 Mar;27(2): 171–75.</ref> substance misusers,<ref name="Corazza &Schifano 2010">Corazza O, Schifano F. "Near-death states reported in a sample of 50 misusers". Subst Use Misuse. 2010 May;45(6): 916–24.</ref> and dialysis patients.<ref name="Lai et al. 2007"/>
In the late 1980s Thornburg developed the Near-Death Phenomena Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire.<ref name="Walker and Russell">Walker, Barbara & Russell, Robert D. "Assessing psychologists' knowledge and attitudes toward near-death phenomena". Journal of Near-Death Studies, Vol. 8, Number 2, 103–110</ref> The questionnaire consists of 23 true/false/undecided response items assessing knowledge, 23 Likert scale items assessing general attitudes toward near-death phenomena, and 20 Likert scale items assessing attitude toward caring for a client who has had an NDE.<ref name="Barnett 1991">Barnett, Linda. "Hospice Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Toward the Near-Death Experience". Journal of Near-Death Studies, 9(4), Summer 1991</ref> Content validity was established by using a panel of experts selected from nursing, sociology, and psychology. The instrument was also found to satisfy the criteria for internal consistency.<ref name="Walker and Russell"/> The instrument has been used to measure attitudes toward, and knowledge of, near-death experiences in a college population,<ref>Ketzenberger, Kay E. & Keim, Gina L. "The Near-Death Experience: Knowledge and Attitudes of College Students". Journal of Near-Death Studies, Volume 19, Number 4, 227–32</ref> among clergy,<ref>Bechtel, Lori J.; Chen, Alex; Pierce, Richard A.; Walker, Barbara A. "Assessment of clergy knowledge and attitudes toward near-death experiences". Journal of Near-Death Studies, Vol 10(3), 1992, 161–70.</ref> among registered psychologists,<ref name="Walker and Russell"/> and among hospice nurses.<ref name="Barnett 1991"/>
Martial and colleagues <ref name="Martial et al. 2020">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Cant et al 2012"/> developed the Near-Death Experience Content (NDE-C) scale, a 20-item scale constructed in order to reassess the Greyson NDE-scale and to validate the new NDE-C scale. The authors found weaknesses in the original NDE-scale, but good psychometric properties for the new NDE-C scale.
Greyson has also used mainstream psychological measurements in his research, for example: The Dissociative Experiences Scale,<ref name="Greyson 2000">Template:Cite journal</ref> a measure of dissociative symptoms; and The Threat Index,<ref>Greyson, Bruce. "Reduced death threat in near-death experiencers". Death Studies, Vol. 16, Issue 6, 1992.</ref> a measure of the threat implied by one's personal death.
Near death studies community
Research organizations and academic locations
The field of near-death studies includes several communities that study the phenomenology of NDEs. One of the most influential is IANDS, an international organization based in Durham, North Carolina, US, that promotes research and education on the phenomenon of near-death experiences.<ref name="Kinsella 2017"/><ref name="HandBook-Field" /> Among its publications is the peer-reviewed Journal of Near-Death Studies.<ref name="Griffith"/><ref name="Kinsella 2017"/>
Another research organization, the Louisiana-based Near Death Experience Research Foundation, was established by radiation oncologist Jeffrey Long in 1998.<ref name="Adler 2007">Adler, Jerry. "Back From the Dead". Newsweek, July 23, 2007</ref> The foundation established a website that same year.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/>
A few universities have been associated with near-death studies: the University of Connecticut (US),<ref name="Greyson 2003"/> Southampton University (UK),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> University of North Texas (US)<ref name="UNT 2011">UNT (University of North Texas) News. "UNT research produces new findings on combat soldiers' near-death experiences". online, July 11, 2011</ref> and the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia (US).<ref name="Graves 2007"/><ref name="Athappilly Greyson Stevenson 2006">Athappilly G, Greyson B, Stevenson I. Do Prevailing Societal Models Influence Reports of Near-Death Experiences? A Comparison of Accounts Reported Before and After 1975. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Volume 194, Number 3, March 2006.</ref><ref name="Greyson 2013"/>
Conferences
IANDS holds conferences on the topic of near-death experiences. In 2006 the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center became the first medical institution to host the annual IANDS conference.<ref name="Hopper, 2006">Hopper, Leigh. "Conference to shed light on 'near-death' experiences". The Houston Chronicle, online, October 25, 2006</ref><ref name="HandBook-Field"/>
The first international medical conference on near-death experiences was held in 2006. Approximately 1,500 delegates, including people who claim to have had NDEs, attended the one-day conference in Martigues, France. Among the researchers at the conference were Moody and anesthetist and intensive care doctor Jean-Jacques Charbonnier.<ref name="Cosmos Magazine 2006">Cosmos Magazine Staff. "Near-death experiences go under the French microscope". Cosmos Magazine, June 18, 2006. Cosmos Media Pty Ltd</ref>
Relevant publications
IANDS publishes the quarterly Journal of Near-Death Studies, the only scholarly journal in the field.<ref name="Griffith"/><ref name="HandBook-Field"/><ref name="Kinsella 2017"/>
One of the first introductions to the field of near-death studies was A Collection of Near-Death Research Readings: Scientific Inquiries Into the Experiences of Persons Near Physical Death, edited by Craig R. Lundahl and released in 1982.<ref name="Kamerman">Kamerman, J. (1984). A Collection of near-death research readings (Book Review). Contemporary Sociology, 13, 120.</ref><ref name="Adams 1982">Template:Cite journal</ref> An early general reader was The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives, published in 1984.<ref name="Greyson & Flynn">Bruce Greyson (Editor), Charles P. Flynn (Editor) (1984) The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives. Charles C Thomas Pub Ltd</ref> In 2009, the Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: thirty years of investigation was published. It was an overview of the field based on papers presented at the IANDS conference in 2006.<ref name="HandBook-Field"/><ref name="Corazza 2010">Template:Cite journal</ref> Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences: A Handbook for Clinicians was published in 2011.<ref name="Jessica Kingsley Publishers. 2011">Mahendra Perera, Karuppiah Jagadheesan, Anthony Peake (editors) (2011) Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences: A Handbook for Clinicians. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 176 pp</ref> The book had many contributors and described how the NDE could be handled in psychiatric and clinical practice.<ref name="Russell 2011">Russell, Rebecca. "Book reviews: Making Sense of Near-Death Experiences: A Handbook for Clinicians". The British Journal of Psychiatry (2012) 201: 415</ref> In 2017 the University of Missouri Press published The Science Of Near-death Experiences,<ref name="Hagan">Hagan, John C. (editor) (2017). The science of near-death experiences. Columbia: University of Missouri Press</ref> a compilation of articles that were originally published in the medical journal Missouri Medicine between 2013 and 2015.<ref>Van Way, Charles W. Book review: The Science of Near-Death Experiences by John C. Hagan III, MD, Editor. Missouri Medicine, January/February 2018, 115:1, 2</ref>
Recognition and criticism
According to literature<ref name="HandBook-Field"/> the field of near-death studies is associated with discovery, challenges, and controversy. Cant and colleagues<ref name="Cant et al 2012"/> note that "curiosity about the origin and prevalence of NDEs has escalated as technology and resuscitation techniques have improved". The topic attracts a lot of interest, which is reflected in search engine results, medical literature, opinion pieces and commentary. Kopel and Webb<ref name="Kopel Webb 2022"/> note the large output of material from the field of near-death studies since the mid 1970's, which has attracted the perspectives of both believers and skeptics, and reflected both the naturalistic perspectives of neurology and physiology, as well as perspectives that are not naturalistic. Kinsella<ref name="Kinsella 2017"/> noted that the field of Near-death studies have facilitated the emergence of an "afterlife movement" and that "growing scholarly interest has followed popular interest in the subject" of NDE's. According to literature<ref name="Griffith"/> "psychiatrists have played a role in the recognition of the "near-death" phenomenon as well as popularization of the subject and subsequent research".
While there is not yet any academic consensus as to what the philosophical implications of NDE studies might be, the question of whatever the true and fundamental nature of human consciousness might be yet remains both unanswered, and highly contentious. Still, NDE researchers are in general agreement that NDE research is now a legitimate academic field of scientific research, and many recent discoveries in this field give rise to the hopes by some researchers that a "breakthrough" in the modern day understanding of the dying process may be imminent.<ref name="The Guardian 2025"/>
However, skepticism towards the findings of near-death studies, and the validity of the near-death experience as a subject for scientific study, has been widespread. According to Knapton, in The Daily Telegraph,<ref>Knapton, Sarah. First hint of 'life after death' in biggest ever scientific study. The Telegraph, online, Oct 7, 2014</ref> the subject was, until recently, controversial. Both scientists and medical professionals have, in general, tended to be skeptical.<ref name="Mauro 1992"/><ref name="Petre 2000">Petre, Jonathan. Soul-searching doctors find life after death. The Telegraph, online, Oct. 22, 2000</ref><ref name="O'Connor 2004">O'Connor, Anahad. "Following a Bright Light to a Calmer Tomorrow". New York Times, online, April 13, 2004</ref><ref>Ziegler, Jan. Near-death Experiences Deemed Worthy Of Serious Research . October 06, 1985, Chicago Tribune online. Accessed September 21, 2014</ref> According to commentators in the field<ref name="Bush 1991"/> the early study of near-death experiences was met with "academic disbelief". Acceptance of NDEs as a legitimate topic for scientific study has improved,<ref name="Mauro 1992"/> but the process has been slow.<ref name="Graves 2007"/>
Skeptics have remarked that it is difficult to verify many of the anecdotal reports that are being used as background material in order to outline the features of the NDE.<ref name="Mauro 1992"/> Psychologist Christopher French<ref name="French 2005"/><ref name="French 2001">French, Christopher. "Commentary." The Lancet 358, pp. 2010–11, 2001</ref> has reviewed several of the theories that have originated from the field of near-death studies. This includes theories that present a challenge to modern neuroscience by suggesting a new understanding of the mind-brain relationship in the direction of transcendental, or paranormal, elements. In reply to this French considers the conventional scientific understanding, and introduces several non-paranormal factors, as well as psychological theory, that might explain those near-death experiences that defy conventional scientific explanations. However, he does not rule out a future revision of modern neuroscience, awaiting new and improved research procedures.
As for prospective studies in the field of Near-death research; Kovoor and colleagues<ref name="Kovoor et al 2024"/> noted that there are some "methodological concerns within many of the prospective studies" mapped by their scoping review. They note that: "Longer-term outcomes may have been biased by clinical characteristics and comorbidities, rather than near-death experiences, and this should remain a pertinent consideration". Engmann,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> who discussed the AWARE-study from 2014, points out that NDE research does not fulfil quality criteria of medical studies, namely objectivity.
Evrard and colleagues, commenting upon the current state of Near-death research and terminology, expressed less confidence in the core phenomenology of NDEs, and the NDE-model proposed by Moody, in contrast to other NDE-models. They also noted that it is difficult to come up with a precise definition of the NDE-phenomenon within this field of research.<ref name="Evrard et al 2022"/>
But criticism of the field has also come from commentators within its own ranks. In an open letter to the NDE community, Ring pointed to the "issue of possible religious bias in near-death studies". According to Ring, the field of near-death studies, as well as the larger NDE-movement, seemed to attract a number of religious ideologies and controversies in the years leading up to the turn of the century. This was a development that Ring thought was unfortunate and that, in his view, had compromised the integrity of research and discussion.<ref name="Ring 2000">Template:Cite journal</ref>
See also
Notes
- a.Template:Note van Lommel et al., 2001: Table 2
- b.Template:Note The diagnostic label of "Religious or spiritual problem" is included in DSM-IV under the category of "Other conditions that may be a focus of clinical attention". See American Psychiatric Association (1994) "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders", fourth edition. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association (Code V62.89, Religious or Spiritual Problem).
- c.Template:Note Reported memories were assessed by the Greyson NDE Scale.