Explaining Near-Death Experiences

Introduction

Near-death experiences (NDEs) are fascinating phenomena that seem to intersect various fields of study, such as medicine, psychology, religion and theology, the philosophy of the mind, and more. These episodes seem to share striking characteristics: out-of-body experiences, journeys of various kinds, events involving lights and different figures, and coming back to “reality” with a motivational outlook. Due to the fact that there are many stories of NDEs from people with a wide variety of backgrounds, NDEs are a worthy subject of study. What framework best explains them? Are NDEs best understood as products of the brain under extreme stress, or do they point beyond strictly natural processes to some non-natural dimension of human existence?

The two broad explanatory mechanisms are roughly naturalistic or super-naturalistic. One posits that the various components of an NDE can be explained through natural means. The body and the brain respond to stimuli in various ways. When there is a lack of oxygen or when a person is experiencing strong end-of-life emotions, there will be psychological and neurological responses that can produce NDEs. The other non-naturalistic position would hold that these explanations are reductionistic. They may explain certain features that are common in NDEs, but not everything. Thus, the examiner may need to look beyond the purely physical for a satisfying answer.

This paper will examine both approaches, assessing their strengths and limitations. Ultimately, non-naturalistic interpretations of NDEs have a stronger and more satisfying explanatory ability than naturalistic options.

What Is a Near-Death Experience?

Near-death experiences are “deep psychic, conscious, semi-conscious, or recollected experiences of someone who is approaching or has temporarily begun the process of dying which usually occur in life-threatening conditions.”[1] They share many common characteristics, such as “feelings of peace and joy; a sense of being outside of one’s body; the absence of pain; a sense of motion or weightlessness; seeing an unusual, bright light as in a tunnel or void; a revival of memories or a full life review; sensing the border beyond which one cannot go; catching sight of some other realm like a place of beauty or heaven, etc.”[2] It is comparable to a vision or dream-like experience; eventually the person experiencing the NDE “returns” to their everyday reality and the experience is over.

NDEs are often psychologically and emotionally very meaningful to the individuals involved. They are sometimes interpreted through a religious or spiritual lens, and this provides a supportive narrative for what has occurred. Scientifically and medically, many will interpret NDEs through the brain responding to the particular life situations in which the individuals find themselves.

Naturalistic Explanations of NDEs

When it comes to naturalistic explanations of NDEs, researchers will often start with what has happened to the subjects’ bodies leading up to the event, the state of the bodies at the time of the event, and then what possibly could be occurring in the bodies and the brains that could lead to the NDEs. One study explains the following:

Near-death experiences occur in various situations, including cardiac arrest in MI(myocardial infarction) (clinical death), the shocks caused by the blood loss after delivery or in postoperative complications, septic or anaphylactic shocks, electrocution, the coma caused by traumatic brain injury, intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral infarction, suicide attempts, near drowning or suffocation experiences, apnea, and other cases where death is unavoidable (Van Lommel et al., 2001, 2017). The occurrence of near-death experiences is increasing thanks to improved survival rates through modern medical techniques.[3]

The brain, generally the focus for naturalistic explanations of NDEs, is often subjected to extreme duress in these situations.The brain of the subject with the NDE may have been damaged for a variety of reasons, leading to limited or irregular brain activity. The brain may lack oxygen in certain situations, which leads to cerebral hypoxia; there is the potential for hallucinations when this occurs. Some researchers speculate about NDEs being a form of thanatosis, in which “creatures throughout the animal kingdom feign death to escape mortal dangers.”[4] Maybe NDEs are a brain’s last effort to “jump-start” itself before death, or maybe the brain is experiencing a seizure in these moments.

Although some NDE reports include unusual narrative experiences that involve personal information (seeing relatives, etc.), not all do. One person reported that time seemed to slow down during the experience.[5] One person reported the absence of fear and a feeling of peace. Some of these details may be consistent with the body preparing to die. At the end of one’s life, there are many events that may transpire and some of what is described by NDEs are consistent with these events. These include terminal delirium (a patient not being in his or her normal, healthy state of mind), experiencing end-of-life dreams and visions (similar to NDEs, but typically occurring before actual death), terminal lucidity (a patient acts and feels like someone with energy and clarity for a short period of time; this is typically followed by the death of the patient shortly after), and more.[6]

One study outlines other possible explanatory possibilities:

There have been various attempts to explain NDEs in reductive terms of biochemical or neurobiological mechanisms: lowered levels of oxygen accompanied by increased levels of carbon dioxide (Blackmore, 1993; Lempert, 1994), release of endorphins or other endogenous opioids in stressful conditions (Carr, 1981, 1982); abnormal functioning of the limbic system (Saavedra-Aguilar & Gómez-Jeria, 1989), of the temporal lobes (Britton & Bootzin, 2004), or recently of brain-derived dream states (Marsh, 2021, pp. 97–115).[7]

Despite some of these efforts, there are NDE details that are difficult to explain from a naturalistic point of view. There are many stories of subjects “meeting” relatives during this episode that they had never met before in their lives. One subject reported the following:

I had an aunt who died 20 years before I was born and I had no pictures or memories of her. In my experience I had a brief meeting with her and I was told that she is your aunt. [Sh]e loved me a lot. After I returned to the world, when I described her appearance to my mother, she confirmed that she was my aunt.[8]

There are many reports of meeting a spiritual being, hearing voices, traveling to heaven or hell (or at least a heaven-like or hell-like place), and obtaining verifiable physical information that was unknown before the event and could not have otherwise been obtained without the NDE. Some aspects of this can possibly be explained by various neurological phenomena, but not everything. One study admits the following:

As far as the knowledge of the researchers allows, no systematic analysis has been designed in this field so far. Due to the fact that different studies have reached different results and the results of these studies have not been certain, so it is necessary to search for a definite result for a correct understanding of this phenomenon… Examining these experiences may pose challenges to the researchers of sciences such as psychology, parapsychology, psychiatry, medicine, philosophy of religion, and psychology of religion, each of which requires competent and well-reasoned answers.[9]

There are elements to NDEs that are not completely explainable under purely naturalistic and mechanical theories. There are reports of NDEs happening when a person has “flatlined” (no heartbeat) and is experiencing “brain death” (no brain activity). People have who have experienced NDEs have met relatives they did not know and were not aware of beforehand; naturalistic explanations struggle with this phenomenon. Sometimes, these subjects come back from their NDE with knowledge of the world that they did not have prior to the NDE, such as details about the operating room they were in or other aspects of the hospital (these stories will be explored in the next section).

The common refrain amongst researchers is the need for more research. There may not be satisfying answers yet from the non-supernatural position on this topic, but the hope is that, in time, more will be made known.

Non-Naturalistic Explanation of NDEs

Although people who believe there are alternatives to naturalistic explanations for NDEs are often derided as “kooks” and “grifters” (“First stop, paradise; next stop, Dr Oz.”), that has not stopped them from seeking out more satisfying answers.[10] The religious, spiritual, and paranormal dimensions are possibilities to be explored; sometimes, people start there in their search for explanations. The difficulty with these options is that they are hard to study scientifically. Observability, repeatability, falsifiability, and other marks of scientific experimentation are not always available with these theories. Despite these drawbacks, there is more than enough to study due to personal reports and verifiable claims that are made, and thus the conversation continues.

In religious circles, NDEs can be explained as the passing between death into life. There may be angels or demons present, it makes sense that there are voices from figures speaking to the subject, there would be some sort of passageway or tunnel to travel through, the journey would end up in a place with a lot of light (or darkness), and there would be people the subject would recognize on “the other side.” Various religions would have a framework for these details that are prevalent in NDE stories. Christianity would be a prominent example. In the tier adjacent to organized religion, the spiritualist would also find some of these details explainable. The spirit realm would contain the general themes of light and dark, and a person could expect some level of comfort or distress depending on how he or she lived. These experiences would be motivational, a message from the next world to make the most of this world and to be good to people.

One example that seems to point to a non-natural explanation is the story of five year-old Sandy.[11] Sandy had encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) from a mosquito bite and “died.” She found herself in a void of comfort, eventually joined by a friendly light (maybe an angel?). Then, she was joined by a smaller light, who introduced herself as Sandy’s sister. Her name was Willie (short for “Willamette”), and she had died a year before Sandy was born from an accidental poisoning. Her parents were waiting for the right time to tell Sandy about Willie, and Willie had appeared to her here in this way as a part of a dream or vision. Eventually, Sandy “came back” and talked with her parents about the NDE; the parents confirmed that Sandy indeed had a sister but they had been waiting to tell Sandy about her until she was older and could understand life and death better.

There are the stories of blind-children, who will return from an NDE with details that show that they could see during their NDE, which is odd. One story is from Brad, who described snow-plowed streets, floating above a building, and seeing a car during his NDE.[12] Another story is from Vicki, who could visually describe the operating room she was in and the streets around the hospital.

Another feature that is difficult to explain naturally is when someone enters an NDE with a certain amount of information about the physical world around them, and then he or she leaves the NDE with information that was gained during the NDE. An example of this is Howard, who was undergoing a surgery in hospital when he had his NDE.[13] During the NDE, he rose outside of the room and started to travel through the hospital, where he saw various individual rooms. In these rooms, there were these things that looked like mannequins with IVs attached to them. Howard had no way of knowing this, but the hospital had a training center on the floor above his operating room where students would practice different scenarios, including attaching IVs to patients. That part of the hospital was restricted, and Howard would not have been allowed to enter naturally. How did Howard see mannequins with IVs attached to them?

One common naturalistic explanation of NDEs pertains to brain activity. According to the physicalist, the brain reacts strongly at the end of life, and this end-of-life activity leads to NDEs. The issue with this is that there are stories of people who have had NDEs while there was no brain activity.[14] One example is the story of thirty-five year-old Pam Reynolds, whose body was cooled to 60 degrees for an aneurysm surgery in her brain. She underwent cardiac arrest, stopped breathing, and her brain activity flattened. During the NDE, she watched as the surgery team worked on her body, and she could describe in vivid detail the various things they did to her. She was able to do this, even though they only gave her a generic description of the upcoming surgery before she was sedated. She described the tools they used, the conversations they had, and the fact they gave her two defibrillator shocks to restart her heart (at the time, there was no standard number of shocks to give a patient). She saw all of these things even when there was no brain activity inside of her.[15]

Another potential naturalistic response to any attempt that people make connecting NDEs to religion or spirituality is an accusation of confirmation bias. Someone might say, “Of course religious or spiritual people believe their NDEs confirm their prior beliefs. They will simply interpret what has happened to them through their religious or spiritual lenses.” This explanation may not be the strongest of the options available. Dr. Jeffrey Long conducted a study with 420 people about their beliefs before and after their NDE. Before their NDE, around 65% of the participants “definitely” or “probably” believed in God’s existence.[16] The rest were either unsure or did not believe. This is not strong evidence for confirmation bias, where a person is simply looking for what they already believe to be true. There is some explanatory power in this theory, but it is not enough to explain away the cumulative consistency of the NDE stories.

Another mark against confirmation bias is the remarkably consistent stories of little children who experience NDEs.[17] They have no agenda to spread. They have done no research on the details of NDEs . They do not “know” how these stories are supposed to unfold so that the stories align neatly with a religious or spiritual narrative. Also, these children are not able to communicate with each other to make sure their details are straight. Yet, there are consistent details across these stories. One of the primary details shared by these children is the presence of a post-mortem tunnel that the children travel through as they have their NDE. It is a common aspect of these stories, even across countries.

Perhaps the strongest naturalistic argument against non-naturalistic explanations are the false stories associated with this topic, and the fact that humans will lie about these events for fame or money. What if NDEs are simply hoaxes (if the participants are intentionally lying) or misunderstandings (if the participants are sincere but incorrect)? Michael Zigarelli writes about the following stories which should humble the over-eager spiritualist:

“Internal decapitation.” That’s the terrifying term the doctors used.

The accident had separated Alex’s skull from his spine. In the unlikely event that he survived, he would live out his days as a quadriplegic.

Alex was only six years old.

In fact, the crash scene on State Road 47 in Ohio was bad enough to call the coroner. Alex’s dad somehow escaped serious injury. So did the passengers in the other vehicle. Alex was lifeless.

But not from his perspective. As EMTs and hospital staff worked feverishly to save him, Alex was visiting heaven. He entered through the quintessential tunnel, angels greeted him, Jesus talked to him, Alex even caught a glimpse of Satan, a being with three heads and flaming pupils.

And after he awoke from his coma, angels and demons continued to visit Alex for weeks.

Years later, it all culminated in a bestseller and speaking tour by his father. The supernatural visions of Alex Malarkey were truly newsworthy––except the news wasn’t true. “I did not die. I did not go to Heaven,” Alex recanted. He and his mother blew the whistle as book sales crossed a million copies.

It’s the seemingly fatal flaw of “near-death experiences” (NDEs): flat-out fabrications. One neuroscientist reported that his patient Sarah Gideon perceived a stunning range of NDE-like phenomena, despite having no brain waves at the time. Not true. Another doctor published about a blind-from-birth patient, also named Sarah, who inexplicably saw her resuscitation and other medical procedures from above. Completely concocted. Never happened. More than neither, neither “Sarah” even existed![18]

Sometimes, in a sincere desire to confirm one’s religious and spiritual beliefs, a person can be over-zealous to believe stories that come out in support of his or her worldview. NDE stories seem to confirm a broadly religious or spiritual or paranormal world, and thus many will jump at stories like this. Instead, caution is the wiser approach. How does the story hold up over time? Could there be ulterior motives involved for the person or people telling the story? Many are susceptible to the allure of money and fame.

Despite many real examples of hoaxes, however, the “NDEs are hoaxes” theory cannot answer every story’s details. There are many who experience NDEs and do not write books or otherwise try to become rich and popular off the event. There are NDEs when a person has no brain activity, confirmed by a multiplicity of witnesses. There are NDEs where a person comes back with details of relatives they never knew existed, or details of the physical world around them they had no earthly way of knowing. Children around the world also have NDEs; they have similar details (such as a tunnel) when they had no way of collaborating with each other and no ability/reason to research these details beforehand.

To summarize this section, a religious or spiritual person will go further than a naturalist will when explaining NDEs. Physical activities may or may not be happening in the body, but there is more to the story. A person’s self or soul will leave the physical body, and various events will take place. This person may go through a tunnel. He or she may meet people, angels, lights, etc. He or she may see their body, wherever it is resting. This person will return to the physical world, and share their story of traveling through another realm that may or may not overlay our own. He or she may use a religious or spiritual backdrop to explain what has happened. There are potential problems with the non-naturalist explanation of NDEs, but none of which are fatal to the supernatural and none that satisfyingly explain all the features of an NDE.

Conclusion

NDEs are incredible phenomena, and they are not fully understood by researchers. There is much research that needs to be done by experts in a variety of fields, from neurology to psychology to the philosophy of religion (and more). There are several explanations for NDEs, ranging from brain activity to a participation in the religious or spiritual realm. Naturalistic explanations will focus on physical possibilities, ranging from a lack of oxygen in the brain to the body trying to revive itself one final time. Non-naturalistic explanations will focus on the narrative elements of these stories, noting that the people experiencing NDEs often return with stories of the nature of the world to come. When considering the evidence, it appears that non-naturalistic theories have more explanatory abilities than naturalistic options.

[1]Amirhossein Hashemi et al., “Explanation of Near-Death Experiences: A Systematic Analysis of Case Reports and Qualitative Research,” Frontiers in Psychology 14 (2023): 1048929, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1048929.

[2] M. Oleksowicz and L. Gaitán, “Near-Death Experiences: Feasibility and Advantages of the Mechanistic Explanation,” Synthese 202 (2023): 78, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-023-04307-y.

[3]Hashemi et al., “Explanation of Near-Death Experiences.”

[4]Alex Blasdel, “The New Science of Death: ‘There’s Something Happening Here That Makes No Sense,’” The Guardian, April 2, 2024, accessed April 28, 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/02/new-science-of-death-brain-activity-consciousness-near-death-experience.

[5]Hashemi et al., “Explanation of Near-Death Experiences.”

[6]Ezekiel Oluwasayo Ijaopo et al., “A Review of Clinical Signs and Symptoms of Imminent End-of-Life in Individuals With Advanced Illness,” Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine 9 (2023): 23337214231183243, https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214231183243.

[7]Oleksowicz and Gaitán, “Near-Death Experiences.”

[8]Hashemi et al., “Explanation of Near-Death Experiences.”

[9]Hashemi et al., “Explanation of Near-Death Experiences.”

[10]Blasdel, “New Science of Death.”

[11]Jeffrey Long, God and the Afterlife: The Groundbreaking New Evidence for God and Near-Death Experience (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2016), 121–123.

[12]Michael Zigarelli, Evidence for Heaven: Near-Death Experiences and the Mounting Case for the Afterlife (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2026), 60.

[13]Zigarelli, Evidence for Heaven, 43-44.

[14]Lee Strobel, The Case for Heaven: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for Life After Death (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2021), 38.

[15]Zigarelli, Evidence for Heaven, 47-48.

[16]Long, God and the Afterlife, 40.

[17]Zigarelli, Evidence for Heaven, 55-56.

[18]Zigarelli, Evidence for Heaven, 13-14.