The Neuroscience of Near-Death Experiences

When people report having profound out-of-body experiences during close brushes with death, skeptics often attribute it to physiological and psychological factors.

If the mind is definitively proven to be dependent on the brain, then the argument for NDEs as brain-based events would also hold true. Yurchanka Siarhei/Shutterstock

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.—When people report having profound out-of-body experiences during close brushes with death, skeptics often attribute it to physiological and psychological factors.

Robert Mays, who has studied near-death experiences (NDEs) for some 30 years, looked at some of these factors during a talk at the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) 2014 Conference in Newport Beach, Calif., on Aug. 29.