Book contents
- Near-Death Experiences
- Near-Death Experiences
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I Consciousness
- Chapter 1.1 A Short Historical Survey Illuminating the Field before Modern Neuroscience
- Chapter 1.2 Consciousness in the Light of Recent Philosophy and Science
- Chapter 1.3 Neuroscience Models of the Nature of Consciousness
- Chapter 1.4 Consciousness in Medicine
- Chapter 1.5 Conclusions of Part I
- Part II Near-Death Experiences
- References
- Index
Chapter 1.4 - Consciousness in Medicine
from Part I - Consciousness
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- Near-Death Experiences
- Near-Death Experiences
- Copyright page
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations
- General Introduction
- Part I Consciousness
- Chapter 1.1 A Short Historical Survey Illuminating the Field before Modern Neuroscience
- Chapter 1.2 Consciousness in the Light of Recent Philosophy and Science
- Chapter 1.3 Neuroscience Models of the Nature of Consciousness
- Chapter 1.4 Consciousness in Medicine
- Chapter 1.5 Conclusions of Part I
- Part II Near-Death Experiences
- References
- Index
Summary
Near-death experiences often happen in a situation of high physiological and/or psychological stress. Sustained cardiac arrest, which is the important criterion for clinical death, is a situation in which the oxygenation level of the brain drops drastically. Without resuscitation and depending on physical and physiological conditions, the lack of oxygen causes a cascade of changes in neural activity of the brain continuing over about 10 minutes until neurons become irreversibly damaged and die. Levels of brain damage with prospective chances of recovery to normal are classified in scales of awareness and wakefulness. Neural activity measured as brain waves in EEG recordings after cardiac arrest shows phases of well-organized patterns comparable with EEG patterns during aware stimulus perception and/or action planning. Clinically dead patients, who are observed as unconscious, may subjectively perceive visual/auditory images and may report on their perceptions of near-death experiences after successful resuscitation.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Near-Death ExperiencesScientific Perspectives on Stories of Personal Truth, pp. 35 - 52Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.0 A
The PDF of this book
conforms to version 2.0 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), ensuring core accessibility principles are addressed and meets the basic
(A)
level of WCAG compliance, addressing essential accessibility barriers.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Index navigation
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Provides an interactive index, letting you go straight to where a term or subject appears in the text without manual searching.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Short alternative textual descriptions
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
You get concise descriptions (for images, charts, or media clips), ensuring you do not miss crucial information when visual or audio elements are not accessible.
Full alternative textual descriptions
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
You get more than just short alt text: you have comprehensive text equivalents, transcripts, captions, or audio descriptions for substantial non‐text content, which is especially helpful for complex visuals or multimedia.
Visual Accessibility
Use of high contrast between text and background colour
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.
You benefit from high‐contrast text, which improves legibility if you have low vision or if you are reading in less‐than‐ideal lighting conditions.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.