วารสารสมาคมจิตแพทย์แห่งประเทศไทย
Journal of the Psychiatrist Association of Thailand
ISSN: 0125-6985
บรรณาธิการ มาโนช หล่อตระกูล
Editor: Manote Lotrakul, M.D.

Journal of the Psychiatric Association of Thailand

Volume 43 Number 1 ......... January-March 1998

(Full Text)

The Psychobiology of the Near-Death Experience*

Chamlong Disayavanish. M.S., M.D.**

Abstract The number of those who are interested in the near-death experience (NDE) is now on the increase. From the review of the literature, the near-death experience descriptions are often strikingly similar, involving feeling of peace; an out-of-body experience (OBE) of viewing one's own body; entering into the dark tunnel and approaching the light; witnessing the beings of light, the barrier and other country; meeting dead relatives and friends; the life review; and returning to life with less fear of death and a hightened sense of appreciation and faith in religion. From the study of neurobiology, areas of the brain that are involved in the near-death experience include limbic system, hippocampus, amygdala, and temporal lobe. The hyperactivation of these limbic nuclei and inferior temporal lobe can bring about this phenomenon. In addition, the near-death experience may be induced by drugs, oxygen starvation, hypercarbia, or endorphins. However, the near-death experience is not only confined to the neurophysiology of the brain but also related to mind and other mental factors. According to Buddhist doctrine, when death is about to occur, one of the three Death Signs is reviewed in one of the six sense organs but mainly the visual or mental modality. These signs include the immoral or moral thought of the action (Kamma), the symbol of the action (Kamma Nimitta), and the sign of the coming existence or destiny (Gati Nimitta). The Death Signs are the manifestation of the previous actions (Kamma) accumulated in the Unconscious or Life-continuum. Mind belongs to the mentality (Nama) while brain belongs to the matter or materiality (Rupa). Therefore, the near-death experience is the complex and integrated working process of mind and brain which are closely interelated and inseparable.

J Psychiatr Assoc Thailand 1997 ; 42(4) : 84-104.

Key Words: Near-death experience (NDE), Out-of-body experience (OBE), the Unconscious or Life-continuum, Dead signs

* Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Chiangmai University, Chiangmai 50200, Thailand

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