Study of near-death verdicality in the hospital setting. The paper describes problems, both anticipated and unanticipated, that were encountered. Based on the successes and failures of this undertaking, recommendations for future research of this type are presented.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Article reviewing one previously reported and three new pediatric near-death experiences (NDEs), in which the experiencers were interviewed as children, and which suggests that the childhood core NDE as described by Melvin Morse and colleagues may be expanded to include feeling pain-free, seeing a light at the tunnel's end, entering the light, and time alteration.

Abstract: Although cerebral anoxia is not thought to be responsible for triggering near-death experiences (NDEs), the issue is not so clear in the case of hypercapnia. Detection of normal blood gases in Michael Sabom's (1982) case study seems to be the major reply to suggest that hypercapnia may have a causal role in NDEs. We argue, however, that routine arterial measures of blood gases are not a reliable indicator of cerebral levels.

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.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Abstract: This article describes the near-death experience (NDE) a 39-year-old man born with severe spastic quadriplegia had when he was two and one-half years old. Nonverbal because of cerebral palsy, the man was able to communicate about his experience after he heard a therapist talking to another person about NDEs. The man experienced a fairly typical NDE and has had seven subsequent out-of-body experiences, the latter hypothesized as temporary relief from his physical pain resulting from muscular spasticity.

Letter from Leslee Morabito to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic "Love and God in the Near-Death Experience."

Article discussing the near-death experience (NDE) as an experience of wholeness, an adventure in consciousness, and a metaphoric encounter with light. It links theoretical physics with the occult, the Primordial Tradition, and various religious belief systems. Where science sees mystery, religion sees metaphoric truth; the NDE as spiritual quest and physical encounter beckons to both disciplines for explanation.

Editorial contrasting the private, personal near-death experience with the public concept of the experience, and finding important messages for humanity that are common to both.

Abstract: Acknowledging the cultural shaping of near-death experiences makes possible a deeper and more sophisticated appreciation of their meaning and validity.

Abstract: A recent interview with a 34-year-old man, currently serving a life sentence for murder, revealed a remarkable case of "near-death experience by proxy." The phenomenological features of the experience unfolded typically, with some slight variation in content. The immediate drastic changes in attitude and belief following the experience are described.

Letter from John White to editor discussing the meaning of near-death experiences and the concept of Homo noeticus.

Review of the book "Full Circle: The Near-Death Experience and Beyond" written by Barbara Harris and Lionel Bascom.

Article purporting that near-death studies can be viewed within a theoretical framework of "paradigms" and "paradigm shifts" as explicated by Thomas Kuhn. Assuming the validity of Kuhn's model, it hypothesizes that the paradigm of today's "normal science" is shifting to a new paradigm to accommodate data from near-death studies.

Abstract: In a retrospective study contrasting the near-death encounters of 183 persons who reported near-death experiences and 63 persons who reported no near-death experience, the two groups did not differ in age, gender, or time elapsed since the near-death encounter. Near-death experiencers reported all 16 items of the NDE Scale significantly more often than did nonexperiencers.

Article comparing excerpts from Chuang Tzu's writings and the descriptions of near-death experiencers (NDErs). Similarities between the beliefs of NDErs and those of Taoist patriarch Chuang Tzu suggest that NDErs have experienced a kind of awakening that leads them to reject conventional attitudes toward life and death.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena. Table of contents for each issue of volume 8 are included on page 267.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Letter from V. Krishnan to the editor discussing a theory of death and reincarnation that implies a process amenable to empirical investigation.

Abstract: This paper examines the beliefs and expectations that a sample of 508 people hold about the first five minutes after death. A substantial minority believed that they will experience the main elements of the near-death experience (NDE). In general these elements were cited more frequently than were Biblical images. Six percent of the sample said that postmortem survival for them will be a negative and disturbing experience. We discuss these results in terms of their methodological implications for other survey work and their theoretical contribution toward our understanding of negative NDEs.

Review of the book "Other Lives, Other Selves: A Jungian Psychotherapist Discovers Past Lives" by Jungian analyst Roger J. Woolger.

Article discussing the following issue: If mental state can influence the external world, or if alternate dimensions of reality are accessible only in certain mental states, then important aspects of the universe are unknowable with current scientific tools. Near-death studies suggest that both those conditions may occur. Thus the exploration of NDE-like phenomena requires a radically new scientific paradigm.

Book review of "A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes" written by physicist Stephen W. Hawking, with a discussion about how the content relates to near-death experience topics.