Harvard Health Letter

In the following viewpoint, the editors of the Harvard Health Letter maintain that there could be mundane explanations for so-called near-death experiences (NDEs)—occurrences in which people who have nearly died claim to have left their bodies and caught glimpses of an afterlife. Some researchers contend that the brain of a dying person may undergo an episode of dissociation, a form of psychological escape that can occur in response to trauma or stress. Other scientists argue that NDEs could result from the body’s release of euphoria- inducing chemicals or from a lack of oxygen to the brain, both of which could lead to temporal lobe seizures that produce hallucinations. The Harvard Health Letter is a monthly newsletter published by the Harvard Medical School.

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