NDE research smells of rats

(Public Domain)

In an attempt to equate human near-death experiences with those of rats, researchers at the University of Michigan "induced cardiac arrest" in nine helpless rodents.

Some of the nine were "asphyxiated with carbon monoxide," and all were "hooked up to EEG machines."  Thirty seconds after their hearts had stopped, all the rats "experienced waves of synchronized brain activity that were characteristic of the conscious brain."  The visual cortex areas of their brains were also "highly activated."

Researchers noted that the rats' near-death neural consciousness seemed to be "at a much higher level compared to the waking state."  They theorized that this could be due to a crisis-mode survival mechanism.  They also theorized that this could account for the human experience of NDEs as being much more vivid than everyday life.

Tia Ghose of Live Science nevertheless reports that Dr. Sam Parnia, a resuscitation researcher at SUNY Stony Brook's School of Medicine, remains unconvinced by these theories.  Parnia explained that there was "no way to know what the rats were experiencing while their hearts were stopped," and that there are no "other studies in dying humans and dogs" with "brain wave activity that was parallel" to what those ratty results seemed to indicate.    

Resources

http://www.nbcnews.com/health/near-death-experiences-may-be-surging-brain-activity-6C10901827?ocid=msnhp&pos=3

Copyright August 14, 2013 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved