Off the Fence? Maybe.
Thomas is smashing it this week. He sent a message via Instagram asking the Parnia lab at NYU about their position on the cause of NDEs after a new reel was posted.
I won’t go into the whole issue of evidence on this for the moment, especially given Sam Parnia mentioned mechanistic evidence, I am just really glad that they made this clarification on their position. It is important to note they use the word “may”, and that is entirely the correct position to take given what we know about the study. I am very interested that they are going to explain their hypothesis soon.
Thanks Thomas and thanks Dr Parnia and the NYU lab for your continuing work in this field. Here is a link to the reel:
Parnia discussing their hypothesis
I will be creating a post over the weekend summarising what we have learned since the AWARE II study caught the attention of the media last week, what the absolute position is given the published evidence, my speculation on why things have been so “nuanced” (to put it politely) and thoughts about their approach to discussing this hypothesis.
AwareofAware 
Let’s hope that things become clearer…I am not a doctor, nor a neurophysiologist, nor a neurologist, I am just trying to apply common sense. And I find it hard to believe in this theory of disinhibition reflected in biomarkers of brain electrical activity. I wonder if this is really possible. That is, that there are parts of the brain that were from birth to the moment of death totally inactive, and that these are activated (disinhibited) just when there is no or minimal cerebral blood flow. It seems to me a priori something implausible.
We will see what explanation Sam Parnia and his team come up with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Eduardo,
To be honest unless they have brain imagining of an NDE, which they obviously don’t, then there is no way that they can state with any authority that a part of the brain is responsible for this. Anyway, going to go into this in more detail in my next post.
LikeLike
I don’t think that the theory is any more or less plausible than believing consciousness or soul exists outside the brain, which I personally hope it does.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think they are saying that it can exist outside the brain, but based on the EEG evidence alone, then it is impossible to draw definitive conclusions.
LikeLike
Ben, my pleasure. This is a subject matter in which I’m deeply interested and I know you’re among those who share the same passion. The member of the Parnia Lab who responded to my question stated in the response that a more detailed explanation was in the works. Let’s see what goodies they bring forth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think a lot of people will not understand how Parnia could suggest these bio markers maybe a signature of expanded consciousness (something spiritual). It might appear as a huge leap, maybe woo-woo. Its only when you look at the totality of the NDE literature does it make sense. I hope this in-depth explanation they are planning to release will summarize this well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Precisely.
LikeLike
I wonder maybe they will just say there’s no possibility they are brain produced as there are no mechanisms they know for brains in these states. So the only thing left is spiritual, expanded consciousness etc. Kinda proof by the back door. Then there’s the “totality” you say which fits this.
LikeLike
Hello Ben, good afternoon from Brazil. I apologize in advance for the question: In Dr. Parnia’s research in the AWARE II study related to patients who had Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), does the lack of EEG data mean that there wasn’t enough time to conduct EEG recordings on the patients, or, in fact, were the EEGs conducted in time during the NDEs and no signs were observed? Once again, I apologize for the question, as I believe it might have been asked before. Thank you, Ben!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It has been answered many times, but happy to answer again. Getting EEG data was not easy, and for most of the patients in the study no “interpretable date” was available, and this includes all the patients who had NDEs/REDs.
LikeLike
Will science understand how and why near-death experiences happen?
LikeLike
Ben, do you think there may have actually been a hit, I know not all the data had been completely studied, well as far as I am aware that is, no pun intended.
LikeLike
It is also possible that near-death experiences are multi-casual, depending on both brain activity and a connection or trip to that supposed realm, which for me would not be a celestial realm but, probably, an access to another dimension.
LikeLiked by 1 person