Near-death experiences 'explained'

The mystery of why people 'brought back from the dead' report powerful spiritual experiences may have a biological explanation, according to experts. Researchers who studied brainwaves of dying patients, found there was a surge of electrical activity in their brains just moments before their lives ended.

The doctors from George Washington University medical centre in Washington believe this surge may be the cause of near-death experiences, where patients see themselves walking towards a bright light or floating outside their bodies. Many patients who experience these sensations believe they are having a religious vision and treat it as confirmation of an afterlife.

Some revived patients even reported seeing religious figures such as Jesus, Muhammad or Krishna. Others said they felt suffused with a sense of peace as they start to walk into a light-filled tunnel.

However, the intensive care doctors at George Washington have an alternative biological explanation, which has been published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. A team led by Dr Lakhmir Chawla used an electroencephalograph (EEG), a device that measures brain activity, in seven terminally ill people to provide pain-relieving sedation.

Dr Chawla noticed moments before death patients experienced a burst of brainwave activity that lasted from 30 seconds to three minutes.

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