Psychophysiological and Cultural Correlates Undermining a Survivalist Interpretation of Near-Death Experiences (open access)

Psychophysiological and Cultural Correlates Undermining a Survivalist Interpretation of Near-Death Experiences

Third part of a critique of survivalist interpretations of near-death experiences (NDEs), which considers psychophysiological and cultural correlates of NDEs suggesting that such experiences are solely products of individuals' minds rather than windows into a transcendental realm.
Date: Winter 2007
Creator: Augustine, Keith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Psychophysiologic Correlates of Unconsciousness and Near-Death Experiences (open access)

Psychophysiologic Correlates of Unconsciousness and Near-Death Experiences

Article comparing the psychophysiologic symptoms of (+Gz)-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) episodes and NDEs, which may help identify those symptoms unique to near-death and the process of dying.
Date: Summer 1997
Creator: Whinnery, James E.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reincarnation Beliefs Among Near-Death Experiencers (open access)

Reincarnation Beliefs Among Near-Death Experiencers

Study designed to examine the factors underlying an increase in belief in reincarnation following near-death experiences, using a questionnaire to compare the tendency toward belief in reincarnation among NDErs, individuals merely interested in NDEs, and a non-experiencer, non-interest control group.
Date: Autumn 1993
Creator: Wells, Amber D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Misidentified Flying Objects? An Integrated Psychodynamic Perspective on Near-Death Experiences and UFO Abductions (open access)

Misidentified Flying Objects? An Integrated Psychodynamic Perspective on Near-Death Experiences and UFO Abductions

Article proposing an integrated psychodynamic perspective to account in part for a variety of similarities between near-death experiences and UFO abductions. The psychodynamic psychology of these experiences implies that their "realness" is mainly a function of that psychology, rather than primarily of an objectifiable external reality. Clinical and research examples highlight the theoretical and practical usefulness of this model.
Date: Summer 1994
Creator: Twemlow, Stuart W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Near-Death Experiences with Hallucinatory Features (open access)

Near-Death Experiences with Hallucinatory Features

Article surveying near-death experiences (NDEs) incorporating out-of-body discrepancies, bodily sensations, encounters with living persons and fictional characters, random or insignificant memories, returns from a point of no return, hallucinatory imagery, and unfulfilled predictions. Though attempts to accommodate hallucinatory NDEs within a survivalist framework are possible, they signal a failure to take the empirical evidence against a survivalist interpretation of NDEs seriously.
Date: Autumn 2007
Creator: Augustine, Keith
System: The UNT Digital Library
Ego, Moral, and Faith Development in Near-Death Experiencers: Three Case Studies (open access)

Ego, Moral, and Faith Development in Near-Death Experiencers: Three Case Studies

Study examining relationships between three near-death experiencers' (NDErs) levels of moral, ego, and faith development, as measured by standardized instruments, and extensive qualitative data describing their NDEs and personal attributes. The results suggest that currently available instruments, designed to measure the lower self, may not reflect the awakening to a transpersonal plane of functioning that follows an NDE.
Date: Winter 1988
Creator: Newsome, Rosalie D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guest Editorial: Is Ten Years a Life Review? (open access)

Guest Editorial: Is Ten Years a Life Review?

Article looking back on the author's ten years of involvement with near-death studies and with the International Association for Near-Death Studies, reviewing some of the major questions and accomplishments of that decade both in understanding of the near-death experience and in service as an organization.
Date: Autumn 1991
Creator: Bush, Nancy Evans
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guest Editorial: Near-Death Experiences: A Speculative Neural Model (open access)

Guest Editorial: Near-Death Experiences: A Speculative Neural Model

Article detailing a personal mystical experience that led the author to the belief that a little known structure in the center of the spinal cord, Reissner's fiber, is identical with the anatomical entity described by kundalini yoga. The author's struggles to understand the meaning of that experience have led him to believe that an understanding of the deeper realities underlying quantum phenomena can be integrated with an understanding of the mysterious realities of near-death and other mystical experiences, and that Reissner's fiber can serve as an empirical basis for a scientific investigation of these phenomena.
Date: Spring 1994
Creator: Wile, Lawrence C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Guest Editorial: Paradise is Paradise: Reflections on Psychedelic Drugs, Mystical Experience and the Near-Death Experience (open access)

Guest Editorial: Paradise is Paradise: Reflections on Psychedelic Drugs, Mystical Experience and the Near-Death Experience

Article discussing the relationship between psychedelic drugs, mystical experience, and the near-death experience.
Date: Spring 1988
Creator: Ring, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
"Psychophysiological and Cultural Correlates Undermining a Survivalist Interpretation of Near-Death Experiences" Defended (open access)

"Psychophysiological and Cultural Correlates Undermining a Survivalist Interpretation of Near-Death Experiences" Defended

Article responding to objections raised against another article. The author concedes some of the objections up to a point, but concludes that they neither strengthen the case for a survivalist interpretation of near-death experiences, nor weaken the case against one.
Date: Winter 2007
Creator: Augustine, Keith
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients (open access)

A Prospective Analysis of Near-Death Experiences in Cardiac Arrest Patients

Study assessing prospectively the frequency of near-death experiences (NDEs) in patients suffering a cardiac arrest, characterizing these experiences, and assessing their impact on psychosocial and spiritual attitudes.
Date: Summer 2002
Creator: Schwaninger, Janet; Eisenberg, Paul R.; Schechtman, Kenneth B. & Weiss, Alan N.
System: The UNT Digital Library
A "Little Death": The Near-Death Experience and Tibetan Delogs (open access)

A "Little Death": The Near-Death Experience and Tibetan Delogs

Article exploring a phenomenon remarkably like the near-death experience that has been uncovered in Tibetan culture. Anthropologists have gathered accounts of contemporary and historical cases of remarkable people called delogs. Seemingly dead for several hours or days, these people revive spontaneously and tell detailed accounts of otherworldly journeys. These delogs are a bridge between contemporary near-death experiences and ancient shamanic practices.
Date: Spring 2001
Creator: Bailey, Lee W.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Metaphysical Beliefs and Experiences Among Physician Trainees: An Exploratory Study (open access)

Metaphysical Beliefs and Experiences Among Physician Trainees: An Exploratory Study

Article documenting the results of surveying 126 physician trainees regarding their beliefs about metaphysical experiences (e.g., near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, shared-death experiences, and after-death communication) and experiences shared with them by patients. It also discusses results about the trainees' attitudes toward transcendental explanations and caring for end-of-life patients.
Date: Autumn 2020
Creator: Schmit, Jessica M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Omega Project: An Empirical Study of the NDE-Prone Personality (open access)

The Omega Project: An Empirical Study of the NDE-Prone Personality

Article discussing a questionnaire given to near-death experiencers (NDErs) and persons interested in NDEs, assessing the role of psychological factors in influencing susceptibility to NDEs and to measure aftereffects stemming from such events.
Date: Summer 1990
Creator: Ring, Kenneth & Rosing, Christopher J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Nature and Meaning of the Near-Death Experience for Patients and Critical Care Nurses (open access)

The Nature and Meaning of the Near-Death Experience for Patients and Critical Care Nurses

Study designed to develop a conceptual framework for the near-death experience (NDE), reflecting its nature and meaning for the patient and the critical care nurse. The study used naturalistic inquiry to examine the question: What is the nature and meaning of an NDE and how has it influenced the individual's view of the self, the future, and feelings and beliefs about life and death?
Date: Spring 2003
Creator: Morris, Linda L. & Knafl, Kathleen
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Theory of Essence. [Part] 3: Neuroanatomical and Neurophysiological Aspects of Interactionism (open access)

The Theory of Essence. [Part] 3: Neuroanatomical and Neurophysiological Aspects of Interactionism

Article continuing the construction of a dualistic interactionist theory of the near-death experience (NDE), the theory of essence, which was begun in two previous articles. The present work represents an extension of the theory to the microscopic level of analysis, in order to specify in detail the mechanism of essence-brain interaction and to address some general and specific objections to interactionism and the theory of essence.
Date: Winter 1999
Creator: Arnette, J. Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Religious Wars in the NDE Movement: Some Personal Reflections on Michael Sabom's Light & Death (open access)

Religious Wars in the NDE Movement: Some Personal Reflections on Michael Sabom's Light & Death

Open letter to Michael Sabom in response to his book, Light & Death.
Date: Summer 2000
Creator: Ring, Kenneth
System: The UNT Digital Library
Near-Death Studies and Modern Physics (open access)

Near-Death Studies and Modern Physics

Article exposing some of the principal problem areas between near-death studies and modern physics, and suggesting a greater collaboration between the two fields. Specific illustrations are given where collaborative effort might be fruitful. The paper also suggests a broader perspective in performing the research, one that places greater emphasis on an otherworldly thrust in future research.
Date: Spring 2000
Creator: Lundahl, Craig R. & Gibson, Arvin S.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Phenomenology of the Self-Conscious Mind (open access)

The Phenomenology of the Self-Conscious Mind

Article exploring the phenomenon of a near-death experiencer's veridical perceptions during the out-of-body experience (OBE), which strongly suggests the existence of a self-conscious mind as a "field of consciousness," a region of space where a person's consciousness exists.
Date: Autumn 2008
Creator: Mays, Robert G. & Mays, Suzanne B.
System: The UNT Digital Library