The near-death experience in children: Shades of the prison-house reopening.

Near-death experiences (NDEs) in young children are substantially similar in content to those reported by adults, according to a review of seventeen accounts including two still in childhood. This suggests that cultural conditioning—such as education, religious training, social mores, and family traditions—is not a primary determinant of NDE contents, countering the argument that NDEs are merely a culturally conditioned response to a life crisis.

Study at a glance

Abstract

"Some critics have argued that the near-death experience (NDE) is merely a culturally conditioned response to a life crisis, a reflection of expectations engendered by education, religious training, social mores, and family traditions. A review of seventeen accounts of NDEs in children, including two youngsters still in childhood, indicates that NDEs that occur at early ages appear to be substantially similar in content to adult experiences. These accounts suggest that cultural conditioning is not a primary determinant of NDE contents."