- Jun 1, 2004
- 3,007
- 83
- 45
Soul-searching doctors find life after death
By Jonathan Petre
(Filed: 22/10/2000)
THE first scientific study of "near-death" experiences has found new
evidence to suggest that consciousness or the "soul" can continue to exist
after the brain has ceased to function.
The findings by two eminent doctors, based on a year-long study of heart
attack survivors, could provoke fresh controversy over that most profound of
questions: is there life after death?
Reports of "near-death" experiences, in which people close to death have
vivid encounters with bright lights and heavenly beings, date back
centuries, but the phenomenon has been treated with scepticism by most
academics.
The new study concludes, however, that a number of people have almost
certainly had these experiences after they were pronounced clinically dead.
This would suggest that the mind or consciousness can survive the death of
the brain - a conclusion that was hailed by clerics last night as supporting
religious faith.
Bishop Stephen Sykes, the professor of theology at Durham University and
chairman of the Church of England's Doctrine Commission, said the findings
were "absolutely fascinating". He added: "I do not find them surprising,
however, as I believe life is much more mysterious than we usually think it
is. For theologians, the soul is far more than consciousness or the mind.
But these findings challenge the crude idea that when a person's brain dies,
that, as far as the person's existence is concerned, is that."
The Bishop of Basingstoke, the Rt Rev Geoffrey Rowell, another commission
member, said: "These near-death experiences counter the materialist view
that we are nothing more than computers made of meat."
Based on interviews with survivors of heart attacks at Southampton General
Hospital's cardiac unit, the new study is to be published in the respected
medical journal Resuscitation next year.
The study's authors, Dr Peter Fenwick, a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the
Institute of Psychiatry in London, and Dr Sam Parnia, a clinical research
fellow and registrar at Southampton hospital, stress that more research is
needed.
Dr Parnia said: "These people were having these experiences when we wouldn't
expect them to happen,
when the brain shouldn't be able to sustain lucid processes or allow them to
form memories that would last. So it might hold an answer to the question of
whether mind or consciousness is actually produced by the brain or whether
the brain is a kind of intermediary for the mind, which exists
independently."
Dr Fenwick said: "If the mind and brain can be independent, then that raises
questions about the
continuation of consciousness after death. It also raises the question about
a spiritual component to humans and about a meaningful universe with a
purpose rather than a random universe."
During the study period, 63 cardiac arrest patients survived and were
interviewed within a week. Of those, 56 had no recollection of their period
of unconsciousness, a result that might have been expected in all cases.
Seven survivors, however, had memories, although only four passed the
Grayson scale, the strict medical criteria for assessing near-death
experiences.
These four recounted feelings of peace and joy, time speeded up, heightened
senses, lost awareness of body, seeing a bright light, entering another
world, encountering a mystical being and coming to a "point of no return".
Three of them described themselves as non-practising Anglicans while the
fourth was a lapsed Roman Catholic.
By examining medical records, the researchers said the contention of many
critics that near-death experiences were the result of a collapse of brain
functions caused by lack of oxygen were highly unlikely. None of those who
underwent the experiences had low levels of oxygen.
Researchers were also able to rule out claims that unusual combinations of
drugs were to blame because the resuscitation procedure in the hospital unit
was the same in every case.
Dr Parnia, who was trained at the Guys and St Thomas' medical school,
University of London, said: "I started off as a sceptic but, having weighed
up all the evidence, I now think that there is something going on.
Essentially, it comes back to the question of whether the mind or
consciousness is produced from the brain. If we can prove that the mind is
produced by the brain, I don't think there is anything after we die because
essentially we are conscious beings.
"If, on the contrary, the brain is like an intermediary which manifests the
mind, like a television will act as an intermediary to manifest waves in the
air into a picture or a sound, we can show that the mind is still there
after the brain is dead. And that is what I think these near-death
experiences indicate."
Christopher French, a reader in psychology at Goldsmiths College, University
of London, said he had not seen the new study but remained sceptical.
"Near-death experiences could be pointing towards the soul or the mind
leaving the body, but they could just be the brain trying to make sense of
what is a very unusual event," he said.
By Jonathan Petre
(Filed: 22/10/2000)
THE first scientific study of "near-death" experiences has found new
evidence to suggest that consciousness or the "soul" can continue to exist
after the brain has ceased to function.
The findings by two eminent doctors, based on a year-long study of heart
attack survivors, could provoke fresh controversy over that most profound of
questions: is there life after death?
Reports of "near-death" experiences, in which people close to death have
vivid encounters with bright lights and heavenly beings, date back
centuries, but the phenomenon has been treated with scepticism by most
academics.
The new study concludes, however, that a number of people have almost
certainly had these experiences after they were pronounced clinically dead.
This would suggest that the mind or consciousness can survive the death of
the brain - a conclusion that was hailed by clerics last night as supporting
religious faith.
Bishop Stephen Sykes, the professor of theology at Durham University and
chairman of the Church of England's Doctrine Commission, said the findings
were "absolutely fascinating". He added: "I do not find them surprising,
however, as I believe life is much more mysterious than we usually think it
is. For theologians, the soul is far more than consciousness or the mind.
But these findings challenge the crude idea that when a person's brain dies,
that, as far as the person's existence is concerned, is that."
The Bishop of Basingstoke, the Rt Rev Geoffrey Rowell, another commission
member, said: "These near-death experiences counter the materialist view
that we are nothing more than computers made of meat."
Based on interviews with survivors of heart attacks at Southampton General
Hospital's cardiac unit, the new study is to be published in the respected
medical journal Resuscitation next year.
The study's authors, Dr Peter Fenwick, a consultant neuropsychiatrist at the
Institute of Psychiatry in London, and Dr Sam Parnia, a clinical research
fellow and registrar at Southampton hospital, stress that more research is
needed.
Dr Parnia said: "These people were having these experiences when we wouldn't
expect them to happen,
when the brain shouldn't be able to sustain lucid processes or allow them to
form memories that would last. So it might hold an answer to the question of
whether mind or consciousness is actually produced by the brain or whether
the brain is a kind of intermediary for the mind, which exists
independently."
Dr Fenwick said: "If the mind and brain can be independent, then that raises
questions about the
continuation of consciousness after death. It also raises the question about
a spiritual component to humans and about a meaningful universe with a
purpose rather than a random universe."
During the study period, 63 cardiac arrest patients survived and were
interviewed within a week. Of those, 56 had no recollection of their period
of unconsciousness, a result that might have been expected in all cases.
Seven survivors, however, had memories, although only four passed the
Grayson scale, the strict medical criteria for assessing near-death
experiences.
These four recounted feelings of peace and joy, time speeded up, heightened
senses, lost awareness of body, seeing a bright light, entering another
world, encountering a mystical being and coming to a "point of no return".
Three of them described themselves as non-practising Anglicans while the
fourth was a lapsed Roman Catholic.
By examining medical records, the researchers said the contention of many
critics that near-death experiences were the result of a collapse of brain
functions caused by lack of oxygen were highly unlikely. None of those who
underwent the experiences had low levels of oxygen.
Researchers were also able to rule out claims that unusual combinations of
drugs were to blame because the resuscitation procedure in the hospital unit
was the same in every case.
Dr Parnia, who was trained at the Guys and St Thomas' medical school,
University of London, said: "I started off as a sceptic but, having weighed
up all the evidence, I now think that there is something going on.
Essentially, it comes back to the question of whether the mind or
consciousness is produced from the brain. If we can prove that the mind is
produced by the brain, I don't think there is anything after we die because
essentially we are conscious beings.
"If, on the contrary, the brain is like an intermediary which manifests the
mind, like a television will act as an intermediary to manifest waves in the
air into a picture or a sound, we can show that the mind is still there
after the brain is dead. And that is what I think these near-death
experiences indicate."
Christopher French, a reader in psychology at Goldsmiths College, University
of London, said he had not seen the new study but remained sceptical.
"Near-death experiences could be pointing towards the soul or the mind
leaving the body, but they could just be the brain trying to make sense of
what is a very unusual event," he said.
