Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Center and Neurology Department, University and University Hospital of Liège Liège, Belgium.
International Association For Near Death Studies Oraison, France.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2014 May 27;8:203. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00203. eCollection 2014.
Near death experiences (NDEs) are increasingly being reported as a clearly identifiable physiological and psychological reality of clinical significance. However, the definition and causes of the phenomenon as well as the identification of NDE experiencers is still a matter of debate. To date, the most widely used standardized tool to identify and characterize NDEs in research is the Greyson NDE scale. Using this scale, retrospective and prospective studies have been trying to estimate their incidence in various populations but few studies have attempted to associate the experiences' intensity and content to etiology.
This retrospective investigation assessed the intensity and the most frequently recounted features of self-reported NDEs after a non-life-threatening event (i.e., "NDE-like" experience) or after a pathological coma (i.e., "real NDE") and according to the etiology of the acute brain insult. We also compared our retrospectively acquired data in anoxic coma with historical data from the published literature on prospective post-anoxic studies using the Greyson NDE scale.
From our 190 reports who met the criteria for NDE (i.e., Greyson NDE scale total score >7/32), intensity (i.e., Greyson NDE scale total score) and content (i.e., Greyson NDE scale features) did not differ between "NDE-like" (n = 50) and "real NDE" (n = 140) groups, nor within the "real NDE" group depending on the cause of coma (anoxic/traumatic/other). The most frequently reported feature was peacefulness (89-93%). Only 2 patients (1%) recounted a negative experience. The overall NDE core features' frequencies were higher in our retrospective anoxic cohort when compared to historical published prospective data.
It appears that "real NDEs" after coma of different etiologies are similar to "NDE-like" experiences occurring after non-life threatening events. Subjects reporting NDEs retrospectively tend to have experienced a different content compared to the prospective experiencers.
濒死体验（NDE）越来越多地被报道为一种具有明显可识别的生理和心理现实意义的现象。然而，该现象的定义和原因，以及 NDE 体验者的识别仍然存在争议。迄今为止，最广泛用于在研究中识别和描述 NDE 的标准化工具是 Greyson NDE 量表。使用该量表，回顾性和前瞻性研究一直在尝试估计各种人群中 NDE 的发生率，但很少有研究试图将体验的强度和内容与病因联系起来。
本回顾性研究评估了非危及生命的事件（即“类似 NDE”经历）或病理性昏迷（即“真正的 NDE”）后，以及根据急性脑损伤的病因，自我报告的 NDE 的强度和最常描述的特征。我们还将我们通过 Greyson NDE 量表在缺氧性昏迷中获得的回顾性数据与前瞻性缺氧后研究的文献中发表的历史数据进行了比较。
从符合 NDE 标准（即 Greyson NDE 量表总分>7/32）的 190 份报告中，“类似 NDE”（n=50）和“真正的 NDE”（n=140）组之间，以及“真正的 NDE”组内，根据昏迷的病因（缺氧/创伤/其他），强度（即 Greyson NDE 量表总分）和内容（即 Greyson NDE 量表特征）没有差异。最常报告的特征是平静（89-93%）。只有 2 名患者（1%）报告了负面体验。与历史上发表的前瞻性数据相比，我们回顾性缺氧队列中的总体 NDE 核心特征频率更高。
似乎不同病因的昏迷后“真正的 NDE”与非危及生命事件后发生的“类似 NDE”经历相似。回顾性报告 NDE 的受试者经历的内容与前瞻性体验者不同。
