The Science Behind the Law of Attraction Magazine August, 2015 | Page 55

defined term of NDEs to explore objectively what happens when we die.? Thirty-nine per cent of patients who survived cardiac arrest and were able to undergo structured interviews described a perception of awareness, but interestingly did not have any explicit recall of events. ?This suggests more people may have mental activity initially but then lose their memories after recovery, either due to the effects of brain injury or sedative drugs on memory recall,? explained Dr Parnia, who was an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Southampton when he started the AWARE study. Among those who reported a perception of awareness and completed further interviews, 46 per cent experienced a broad range of mental recollections in relation to death that were not compatible with the commonly used term of NDE?s. These included fearful and persecutory experiences. Only 9 per cent had experiences compatible with NDEs and 2 per cent exhibited full awareness compatible with OBE?s with explicit recall of ?seeing?and ?hearing?events. One case was validated and timed using auditory stimuli during cardiac arrest. Dr Parnia concluded: ?This is In this case, consciousness and awareness appeared to occur during a three-minute period when there was no heartbeat. This is paradoxical, since the brain typically ceases functioning within 20-30 seconds of the heart stopping and doesn?t resume again until the heart has been restarted. Furthermore, the detailed recollections of visual awareness in this case were consistent with verified events. ?Thus, while it was not possible to absolutely prove the reality or meaning of patients?experiences and claims of awareness, (due to the very low incidence (2 per cent) of explicit recall of visual awareness or so called OBE?s), it was impossible to disclaim them either and more work is needed in this area. Clearly, the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice.? Further studies are also needed to explore whether awareness (explicit or implicit) may lead to long term adverse psychological outcomes including post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr Jerry Nolan, Editor-in-Chief of Resuscitation, stated: ?The AWARE study 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.? significant, since it has often been assumed that experiences in relation to death are likely hallucinations or illusions, occurring either before the heart stops or after the heart has been successfully restarted, but not an experience corresponding with ?real?events when the heart isn?t beating. Not e From Edit or: What is even more f ascinat ing is t hat t his st udy does NOT verif y t hat consciousness ends upon deat h. The medical f iel d are act ual l y proving t hat Consciousness cont inues by virt ue of t he 11% who did have experiences. Int erest ing! - Jewel s Page 55 - August , 2015