Life after death? Largest-ever study provides evidence that 'out of body' and 'near-death' experiences may be real
There is scientific evidence to suggest that life can continue after death, according to the largest ever medical study carried out on the subject.
A team based in the UK has spent the last four years seeking out cardiac arrest patients to analyse their experiences, and found that almost 40 per cent of survivors described having some form of “awareness” at a time when they were declared clinically dead.
Experts currently believe that the brain shuts down within 20 to 30 seconds of the heart stopping beating – and that it is not possible to be aware of anything at all once that has happened.
But scientists in the new study said they heard compelling evidence that patients experienced real events for up to three minutes after this had happened – and could recall them accurately once they had been resuscitated.
Dr Sam Parnia, an assistant professor at the State University of New York and a former research fellow at the University of Southampton who led the research, said that he previously that patients who described near-death experiences were only relating hallucinatory events.
One man, however, gave a “very credible” account of what was going on while doctors and nurses tried to bring him back to life – and says that he felt he was observing his resuscitation from the corner of the room.
Speaking to The Telegraph about the evidence provided by a 57-year-old social worker Southampton, Dr Parnia said: “We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating.
“But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes.
“The man described everything that had happened in the room, but importantly, he heard two bleeps from a machine that makes a noise at three minute intervals. So we could time how long the experienced lasted for.
“He seemed very credible and everything that he said had happened to him had actually happened.”
Dr Parnia’s study involved 2,060 patients from 15 hospitals in the UK, US and Austria, and has been published in the journal Resuscitation.
Of those who survived, 46 per cent experienced a broad range of mental recollections, nine per cent had experiences compatible with traditional definitions of a near-death experience and two per cent exhibited full awareness with explicit recall of “seeing” and “hearing” events – or out-of-body experiences.
Dr Parnia said that the findings of the study as a whole suggested that “the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice”.
Dr Jerry Nolan, editor-in-chief of the journal which published the research, said: “The researchers are to be congratulated on the completion of a fascinating study that will open the door to more extensive research into what happens when we die.”
人们的灵魂真的会出窍吗？据英国《独立报》10月7日报道，由英国研究人员开展的一项医学研究表明，在人死亡（心脏停止跳动）之后，生命其实并未停止，“灵魂”还在活动。
研究人员在过去四年里致力于对心脏骤停患者的经验进行分析。结果发现，有40%左右的幸存者描述称，他们被宣布临床死亡时存在某种形式的“意识”。
研究还获得了令人信服的证据，证明患者在心脏停止跳动后仍经历了长达两到三分钟的真实事件，且恢复知觉后患者能清楚回忆起发生过的事情。
目前，专家认为大脑在心脏停止跳动后的20到30秒就会停止工作，这意味着死者不可能再意识到任何事物。
此项研究涉及来自英国、美国和澳大利亚15家医院的2060名病人，研究成果发表在医学杂志《复苏》上。
在幸存者当中，46%的人经历了广泛的精神记忆，9%的人的经历符合濒死体验的传统定义，另有2%的人表现出充分的意识，可清楚回忆出“所看”和“所听”到的事情，也被叫做“灵魂出窍”的体验。
纽约州立大学助理教授萨姆·帕尔尼亚是此次研究的牵头人，他表示自己此前认为濒死经历只是些幻觉事件，但一名男性患者给出了“非常可信”的解释，他所述的一切确确实实发生过。。
这名患者是57岁的社会工作者索桑普顿，他说，在医生和护士尽力抢救他的时候，他感觉他正在房间的某个角落在注视自己的知觉复苏过程。
“我们知道，心脏停止跳动后大脑就无法运作。但这个案例中，患者的自觉意识似乎在心脏停止跳动后持续了3分钟。他描述了发生在病房的所有事情，更重要的是，他听到了一台机器的两次信号声，而该机器每隔三分钟响一次。因此我们可以推断意识持续的时间。”帕尔尼亚说。
《复苏》杂志主编杰里·诺兰表示，这项研究为将来对这个主题更广泛的研究开启了一扇大门。
（译者 闻竹 编辑 Julie 本文为编译）
