Neuroscience
BBC News have this morning reported that doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals plan to test people's experiences of near death - those cases where a heart attack brings a person to the brink of death before they are revived.
This was one of the 'Most important psychology experiments that's Never been done' cited by Dr Susan Blackmore in our special anniversary feature last year.
Apparently the new experiment will involve placing images on high-up shelves that will only be visible to patients if their consciousness really does leave their body. The researchers, led by Dr Sam Parnia, also plan to image the brains of the patients.
The official press release refers vaguely to 'cerebral monitoring techniques', which may not match the accuracy of PET or FMRI. Nonetheless, what's planned does sound very close to the experiment proposed by Blackmore at the BPS Research Digest last year. She wrote:
Link to Southampton University Press release.
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Neuroscience
Watching death
BBC News have this morning reported that doctors at 25 UK and US hospitals plan to test people's experiences of near death - those cases where a heart attack brings a person to the brink of death before they are revived.This was one of the 'Most important psychology experiments that's Never been done' cited by Dr Susan Blackmore in our special anniversary feature last year.
Apparently the new experiment will involve placing images on high-up shelves that will only be visible to patients if their consciousness really does leave their body. The researchers, led by Dr Sam Parnia, also plan to image the brains of the patients.
The official press release refers vaguely to 'cerebral monitoring techniques', which may not match the accuracy of PET or FMRI. Nonetheless, what's planned does sound very close to the experiment proposed by Blackmore at the BPS Research Digest last year. She wrote:
The most important experiment that’s never been done is to take fMRI or PET scans of people as they die; either those who really do go on to die, or those who suffer clinical death but are resuscitated. If this were done we would be able to test theories about how Near Death Experiences and mystical experiences are generated in the dying brain, and answer questions about the timing of the experiences. Perhaps even this would not resolve the final question once and for all, but it would certainly bring us a lot closer to knowing what happens when we die.If evidence were found for patients' consciousness existing beyond the confines of the body, we would obviously have to re-write everything we know about the link between the mind and brain. I expect the results will show that Near Death Experiences are caused by brain activity during the heart attack, and that no patients will see the images placed on the shelves.
Link to Southampton University Press release.
Link to Susan Blackmore writing for our special feature 'Most important psychology experiment that's Never been done'
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- Sue Blackmore: Coping With Demented Patients
When my mother began a vendetta against next door’s dustbins and conceived a hatred of seagulls, we thought it was just Mum at her worst and even found it quite funny, but when she began getting lost and demanding to move to a cottage in the middle...
- What's The Most Important Psychology Experiment That's Never Been Done...?
To mark 100 email issues of the Research Digest - the British Psychological Society's free roundup of the world's best new psychology research - and to inspire the next generation of researchers, I asked leading psychologists and bloggers to write...
- Elsewhere
For when you've had enough of journal articles: Distorted body images and communication hopes for locked-in, vegetative patients : two new free articles from Scientific American Mind. The challenge of preventing violence is not just an American problem....
- End Of Life Gamma Waves: Altered State Of Consciousness Or Artifactual Brain Activity?
"I had been in labor for my daughter for 16 hours. The labor was difficult and the Dr. approached me and told me it may come down to a choice between the child or myself. ... The labor dragged on and on and finally they came in and broke my...
- Missing Meningitis In A Flaky/dodgy Swine Flu System: Another Case
Yet another case from the UK: Woman dies of meningitis after swine flu diagnosis • Woman prescribed Tamiflu and paracetamol dies in hospital • Son urges doctors to heed symptoms of other illnesses Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk Wednesday 12 August 2009...