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There is nothing paranormal about near-death experiences: how neuroscience can explain seeing bright lights, meeting the dead, or being convinced you are one of them

Mobbs, Dean & Watt, Caroline (2011)

Published
Oct 1, 2011
Journal
Trends in Cognitive Sciences · Vol. 15 · No. 10
DOI
10.1016/j.tics.2011.07.010

At a GlanceAI

A three-page skeptical statement: every feature of an NDE has a neurophysiological or psychological basis.

SummaryAI

In a short opinion piece, Mobbs and Watt argue that near-death experiences are normal brain function gone awry during a traumatic, and sometimes harmless, event. They go through typical features such as the light, the out-of-body sense and the feeling of being dead, and map each onto known brain or psychological mechanisms. It is the most compact statement of the skeptical position; the paper was later answered in the same journal by Greyson and colleagues.

Method SnapshotAI

Opinion / forum piece.

BackgroundAI

None.