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intermediate

Characteristics of near-death experiences memories as compared to real and imagined events memories

Thonnard, Marie et al. (2013)

Published
Mar 27, 2013
Journal
PLoS ONE · Vol. 8 · No. 3
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0057620
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At a GlanceAI

Memories of NDEs are richer in detail than memories of real events, so they do not look like imagined ones.

SummaryAI

Thonnard and colleagues compared memory characteristics in coma survivors with and without NDEs and in healthy controls, using the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire. NDE memories had more characteristics than memories of both real and imagined events, and more self-referential and emotional detail than other coma memories. The authors conclude NDE memories cannot be treated as imagined events, while their physiological origin may make them perceived without being lived in reality. The NDE group was only 8 patients.

Method SnapshotAI

Comparison of memory phenomenology across groups with a standard questionnaire.

BackgroundAI

Basic autobiographical memory research.

In Collections

Psychology28 papers

Near-death experiences: reports, measurement and explanations

Some people who come close to death later report leaving their body, a tunnel, a bright light, meeting deceased relatives or a review of their life. This collection follows how psychology and medicine have studied these reports: from the first case collections (Moody, Ring) and the Greyson NDE Scale, through prospective studies of cardiac arrest survivors, to neurobiological, psychological and cultural explanations, distressing NDEs, and what changes in people's lives afterwards. What NDEs are is still debated, and the verdicts here are ours. Terms: * NDE: near-death experience * OBE: out-of-body experience * WCEI: Ring's Weighted Core Experience Index, an early measure of NDE depth

ES
Evgeny Smirnov