University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas)
Bianchi
Ketamine can produce experiences resembling near-death experiences (NDEs), but the nature of these experiences differs depending on the context—recreational use versus use in an operating room. Both ketamine and ibogaine, a substance used in Central African religious rituals to induce NDEs, are noncompetitive antagonists of the NMDA receptor. Ibogaine also elicits different experiences based on whether it is used in a hallucinatory context or in initiatic rituals that induce a superficial coma. These observations raise the question of whether the chemically-induced NDE-like experience stems from the specific substance or from the genuine comatose state itself.
Burton J. Tabaac, Kenneth Shinozuka, Anne Weisman et al.
preprint
5-MeO-DMT, a psychedelic found in toad venom and some plants, shows rapid antidepressant effects in early clinical trials. A Phase 2b trial reported that 57.5% of participants with treatment-resistant depression achieved remission within eight days. Other Phase 2a and 2b trials suggest it may reduce depressive symptoms more effectively than existing treatments like SSRIs. The substance appears low-risk in controlled settings, though most studies are small and only two double-blind randomized controlled trials have been conducted in clinical populations. Long-term effects need further study, and its possible link to near-death experiences remains debated.
Kenneth Shinozuka, Burton J. Tabaac, Alejandro Arenas et al.
preprint
DMT, the psychedelic in ayahuasca, is being studied for depression. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, ayahuasca led to remission in 36% of patients with treatment-resistant depression within one week. A Phase IIa trial reported that 57% of patients with major depressive disorder experienced remission 12 weeks after a single dose of DMT. DMT is naturally produced in the body, but likely at insignificant levels. The idea that DMT is released during death remains unproven. Ayahuasca can cause temporary vomiting but appears generally safe. More research is needed on DMT's therapeutic and biological roles.
Journal of Scientific Exploration
July 7, 2026
Yakov Shapiro, Carlos Eduardo Maldonado
A trans-materialist information-theoretical framework is proposed to account for conscious experience, from ordinary embodied modes to altered states such as near-death experiences (NDEs). The approach extends the Bohmian model to treat brain and mind as a unified quantum/classical system governed by implicate informational dynamics, resolving the Cartesian gap. Consciousness, personal identity, and free will are characterized as informational processes spanning classical matter/energy and quantum fields. Reports of veridical information obtained during NDEs are reviewed, suggesting that consciousness and self-identity may persist as coherent informational patterns (CIPs) without a functioning brain. The framework is also proposed as a clinical tool for alleviating existential death anxiety.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 29, 2026
George Cherian
A speculative essay traces the movement between mechanistic and holistic explanations of reality, life, information, and consciousness, using the metaphor of a chaotic pendulum. It argues that physics has weakened the classical idea of independent parts through quantum uncertainty, non-locality, and Bell's theorem, extending this into biology via autopoiesis and dynamic regulatory networks. Consciousness is examined through neuroscience, meditation, psychedelic studies, near-death experiences, and terminal lucidity, suggesting it may not be reducible to mechanism. The essay proposes that information may be more fundamental than matter but does not solve the hard problem, pointing instead to awareness as the field in which everything appears. Its central claim is that mechanism and wholeness are two movements of the same inquiry orbiting an 'undivided center.'
Journal of Quantum Science of Consciousness.
June 29, 2026
Allison Saltzman
Non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC), such as those arising from meditation, yoga, breathwork, psychedelics, near-death experiences, and mystical states, involve coordinated shifts across neural, physiological, and phenomenological dimensions rather than isolated changes at a single level. These states are associated with alterations in self-referential brain networks, brain wave activity, functional connectivity, autonomic regulation, interoceptive awareness, self-boundaries, time and body perception, unity, meaning, intuitive insight, and interconnectedness. Such shifts may contribute to psychological transformation by loosening ordinary patterns of self-reference and opening access to expanded awareness, meaning, connection, and potential. However, transformation is not automatic; lasting change depends on intention, context, continued practice, and integration.
Buletin Psikologi
June 25, 2026
Noel Jedidiah Bernhard Maliangkay, I Gusti Ayu Diah Fridari
Near-death experiences (NDEs) involve transcendental psychological phenomena at the brink of death. Most research has focused on neurobiological aspects, overlooking subjective existential changes afterward. In Indonesian culture, the concept of 'mati suri' parallels NDEs. This literature review of 12 articles finds that post-NDE spiritual transformation includes shifts in views on life and death, changes in life priorities, alterations in social life, and heightened spiritual sensitivity and intuition. The review confirms that NDEs are not merely biological but also existential spiritual transformations.
Scientific Reports
June 24, 2026
Hanjui Chang, J Y Li, Daewon Kang et al.
Multi-modal physiological monitoring—integrating EEG and ECG from critical care settings—reveals that during the out-of-body sensation phase of near-death experiences, EEG shows increased gamma waves and decreased alpha waves while ECG exhibits arrhythmia, confirming coordinated brain–heart changes. In parallel, optimizing brain-computer interface manufacturing via the Multi-Strategy Differential Evolution algorithm reduced average node displacement from 0.289 mm to 0.021 mm (92.73% optimization), volume shrinkage from 10.162% to 6.39%, and voltage difference from 5.78 V to 0.42 V. This cross-disciplinary approach supports end-of-life care, resuscitation protocols, and consciousness research.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
June 21, 2026
Gabriel Cohen
Time presents a paradox: physical laws are time-symmetric, but conscious experience is directional, and the Wheeler-DeWitt equation of quantum gravity lacks time entirely. Near-death experiences (NDEs) may offer an empirical window into this regime. The phenomenological sequence reported in NDEs—from temporal distortion through dissolution of spatial boundaries to absence of sequential time—structurally corresponds to the sequence predicted by general relativity for an observer approaching a black hole event horizon, as described by the Schwarzschild metric. Two falsifiable predictions are derived: time distortion in NDEs should correlate with NDE depth following gravitational time dilation near the Schwarzschild radius, and the neurophysiological signature should show an initial surge of high-frequency gamma coherence followed by collapse to minimal activity. Both predictions are testable with existing data.
June 17, 2026
Pascal Michael
preprint
Alien abduction reports are widespread but scientifically disputed. This review draws on neuroscience and psychology to explain possible mechanisms: sleep paralysis, REM intrusion, activity in the temporoparietal junction, caudate-putamen connectivity, serotonin 5-HT2A receptor modulation, and thanatosis physiology. Psychological factors like dissociation, false memory, fantasy proneness, and past trauma increase susceptibility. Neural and phenomenological parallels with psychedelic and near-death experiences suggest shared mechanisms. Predictive processing offers a unified framework accounting for the phenomenon's ubiquity and cultural variation, though each model has limitations. A small probability exists that a confluence of neurocognitive factors, cultural memetics, and altered states explains striking reports, but many may still elude integrated explanation. Further research is needed to clarify the ontological nature of this exceptional human experience.