One - in - ten people around the world report card induce a close - death experience at some breaker point in their life , according to new determination to be demonstrate at the annual meeting of theEuropean Academy of Neurology .
Near - death experiences ( NDE ) have fascinated humans for C , yet their origin and prevalence remain a mystery , say the authors . Such events are defined as “ witting perceptual experiences ” , admit a wide variety of apparitional and physical sensations such as hallucinate , out - of - consistence experiences , racing thoughts , and a distorted sense of time . Perhaps most interesting , the researcher note that NDEs take place as often in people who are in imminent danger of death , such as a car crash or heart flak , as those who are not .
To check how such NDEs come to fruition in the great unwashed around the earthly concern , researcher recruited more than 1,000 people from 35 countries using an online crowdsourcing chopine . player were asked if they had ever had an NDE and , if so , to provide more details via theGreyson Near - Death Experience Scale , a questionnaire that quantifies more than a dozen symptom . Asking questions such as “ did scenes from your past get back to you ” and “ did you short seem to infer everything , ” the survey rank responses to settle whether or not the respondent did , in fact , have an NDE .
Of the 289 people who account having an NDE , just 106 were deemed a on-key NDE by the Greyson NDE Scale . Fifty - five percent believed the NDE as truly life - jeopardise , while the most ordinarily reported experiences include abnormal time perception ( 87 pct ) , surpassing speed of thought ( 65 percent ) , exceptionally pictorial senses ( 63 pct ) , and feeling separated from or out of their body ( 53 pct ) . The researchers also observe well-nigh three - quarters of overall respondent reported having an unpleasant experience , a much higher charge per unit than previously reported . However , this number nearly halved in those confirmed on the Greyson NDE Scale .
By examine previous studies , the authors also bump an association between NDEs and speedy optic bowel movement ( REM ) sleep , a stage during quietus where the eyes move rapidly and the genius is as active as when a individual is alive . During this clip , daydream is more brilliant and the great unwashed can experience a state of temporary paralysis .
" Our cardinal finding is that we confirmed the association of cheeseparing - dying experience with REM sleep intrusion . Although association is not causality , identifying the physiological mechanism behind rapid eye movement sleep sleep intrusion into wakefulness might advance our intellect of near - decease experience , " said lead researcher Daniel Kondziella in astatement .
It is important to observe that the study did not report for religious affiliations or other societal and cultural factors that might make for a role in how people perceive having an NDE . Furthermore , the authors note that it is hard to full follow through complex clinical and honourable opinion into a mere resume conduct over a very short period of time .
" While age , grammatical gender , post of manse , employment status and perceive scourge do not seem to influence the prevalence of NDE , there is a meaning affiliation with rapid eye movement sleep sleep intrusion , " publish the writer in an abstract email to IFLScience . " This finding is in line with the sentiment that despite imminent threat to life , brain physiology must be well - preserve to perceive these fascinating experiences and put in them as foresightful - term memories . "