--- "Robert J. Chassell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Deborah Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> commented > on some Near-death experiences (NDE) that they are > > Vehhh-rrrhy Interesting - But Not-Proof > > which I agree with. But the reports are suggestive, > aren't they?
<grin> As I said - very interesting. And not yet well-researched enough (although I shudder to think of what near-death studies *have* been done by some of the monstrous so-called doctors of some WWII enemies...horrible <grimace>). I think the accurate knowledge/memories of where people/objects in the room-of-clinical-death were is the most fascinating (and inexplicable), from a "hunh??" standpoint. > Most of the controversy comes from the definition of > the word `death' > which is "... unconsciousness caused by insufficient > blood supply to > the brain." Under such circumstances brain is still > alive because > non-moving blood has some oxygen left in it; and in > any case, brain > cells without oxygen taken some time to die (but not > very long). Such > a person, is not dead as we think normally of death. > That is why `death' is prefixed by the term >`clinically'. > > "...Blackmore says science can also explain >those tunnels: Electrical brain scans show that in our > last moments, as the brain is deprived of oxygen, > cells fire frantically and at random in the part of > the brain which govern vision. > > "Now, imagine that you've got lots and lots of > cells firing in the middle, towards fewer at the >outside, what's it going to look like? Bright light in > the middle fading off towards dark at the outside," http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/DrJohnson/GMA020108Near_death_experiences.html > > <grin> Of course, that means you must imagine > that instead of the > documented *random* neuron firing, you are > positing *coordinated* neuron firing... > > Right. Blackmore is saying that outer cells stop > firing before inner cells. Yes - but that isn't the same as the *known random* firing pattern! > In my own near-drowning, I saw sparkly lights > against a dark-grey > background, which is consistant with a > random-fire pattern > > which suggests that you were not as nearly dead as > some of the others. This was fortunate for you... :) No kidding! I certainly didn't have a calm peaceful moment either - more like "I'm going to ruin everyone's vacation if I die here!" with a few expletives and other scrambled thoughts deleted... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11755611&dopt=Abstract > > "...We do not know why so few cardiac patients > report NDE after > CPR, although age plays a part. With a purely > physiological > explanation such as cerebral anoxia for the > experience, most > patients who have been clinically dead should > report one." > > Alternatively, humans have different responses to a > shortage of oxygen > in the brain. It is already known that humans have > different reponses to other events. And perhaps those who experience these more 'mystical' NDEs have other variables in common that we haven't noticed or discovered yet. > As you say, this is very interesting. But > Blackmore's work and your > near-drowning certainly does fit a `losing oxygen' > model of cells' behavior rather than anything else. Yes, although I think that Blackmore, by positing a more-coordinated firing pattern rather than the documented random one, is finessing the current data a bit. Debbi who actually would have liked to have had such a 'mystical' experience, but in my several brushes with the 'Shadow,' I probably wasn't "clinically dead" - although I wasn't breathing for "a few moments" in at least two, according to eyewitnesses __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
