BEHIND DEATH'S DOOR

They leave their bodies, witness a bright light and return forever changed. But do survivors of near-death experiences truly glimpse the great beyond? New research into the brain's final moments could decode these visions at life's edge

- DR CHRISTIAN JARRETT

I'll never forget the day the neuropsychiatrist Dr Peter Fenwick visited my undergraduate psychology class in the 1990s. Tall and dapper with a refined voice and neuroanatomical terms tripping from his lips, Fenwick conveyed old-school authority.

One of the subjects he lectured us about was so-called near-death experiences. Originally a sceptic, he said there was now compelling evidence that many people close to death were able to recall seeing themselves from above. Even more astonishing, some described witnessing events in distant parts of the hospital – things they couldn’t have seen unless their consciousness had somehow separated from their physical bodies. Something about his erudite, understated delivery sent shivers down my spine.

Plenty more research has since explored near-death experiences (NDEs) – episodes of bodily disconnection, spiritual revelation, and intense emotions reported by those who come close to death and survive. Turns out they could be incredibly common: one recent survey reported that 15 per cent of patients in intensive care had experienced a NDE.

NDEs are by no means a new phenomenon, however. The scholar Dr Gregory Shushan has collected accounts of NDEs through time and across cultures, finding numerous examples, from 7th-century BC China to 19th-century Ghana. Hieronymus Bosch’s 16th-century painting Ascent of the Blessed is widely considered a visual portrayal of a NDE.

The concept first really came to prominence in the 19th century when the Swiss geologist Prof Albert von St Gallen Heim collected stories from fellow climbers who nearly died. The US psychologist Dr Raymond Moody then popularised NDEs with his 1975 book Life After Life, which Fenwick dismissed at the time as “psychobabble” before encounters with NDE-ers changed his mind.