> A large study is to examine near-death experiences in cardiac arrest
> patients.
>
> Doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals will study 1,500 survivors to see if
> people with no heartbeat or brain activity can have "out of body"
> experiences.
>
> Some people report seeing a tunnel or bright light, others recall
> looking down from the ceiling at medical staff.
>
> The study, due to take three years and co-ordinated by Southampton
> University, will include placing on shelves images that could only be
> seen from above.
>
> To test this, the researchers have set up special shelving in
> resuscitation areas. The shelves hold pictures - but they're visible
> only from the ceiling.
>
> Dr Sam Parnia, who is heading the study, said: "If you can demonstrate
> that consciousness continues after the brain switches off, it allows
> for the possibility that the consciousness is a separate entity.
>
> "It is unlikely that we will find many cases where this happens, but
> we have to be open-minded.
>
> "And if no one sees the pictures, it shows these experiences are
> illusions or false memories.
>
> "This is a mystery that we can now subject to scientific study."
>
> Dr Parnia works as an intensive care doctor, and felt from his daily
> duties that science had not properly explored the issue of near-death
> experiences.
>
> He said: "Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific
> moment.
>
> "It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs
> stop working and the brain ceases functioning - a medical condition
> termed cardiac arrest.
>
> "During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of death are present.
> There then follows a period of time, which may last from a few seconds
> to an hour or more, in which emergency medical efforts may succeed in
> restarting the heart and reversing the dying process.
>
> "What people experience during this period of cardiac arrest provides
> a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to
> experience during the dying process."
>
> Dr Parnia and medical colleagues will analyse the brain activity of
> 1,500 cardiac arrest survivors, and see whether they can recall the
> images in the pictures.
>
> Hospitals involved include Addenbrookes in Cambridge, University
> Hospital in Birmingham and the Morriston in Swansea, as well as nine
> hospitals in the US.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7621608.stm