Hi steemians!
In my previous episode I was talking about the near death experience (NDE) in general. But today, I'd like to tell you something about one phenomenon concerning NDE - Out of body experience (ODE).
ODE is (very surprisingly) experience when you feel yourself out of body. It is one of the most interesting experience occuring in NDE. Many people think ODE is the evidence of existence of so called soul. That somehow our consciousness can exist and experience reality independently of our physical body.
Is this really the case?
The button for releasing your soul?
To prove my point, that we should stay rational when talking about ODE I have a good example when people are far from death yet still experiencing ODE phenomenon.
There is a case report of 50 years old lady that was hospitalized after having an epileptic seizure. After examining her brain by magnetic resonance, the doctors came to the conclusion she has a tumor in left temporo-parietal area of her brain.
Unfortunately, the lady didn't respond well on chemotherapy so the doctors suggested surgical removal of the tumor. Here comes the funny part. During the surgery she was awake. It wasn't just for fun - actually you dont feel any pain on your brain. It is quite common that during the surgery the patient is awake so the doctors don't poke in something important. In the lady's case, the area around the brain was stimulated by electric pulses to distinguish between the functional brain tissue and the tumor. When the stimulation had some effect - it is a fuctional brain tissue. If not - that is the tumor that has to be removed.
During one specific stimulation something weird happend. While stimulating at the left temporoparietal junction she experienced a complete OBE. She described it as if she was floating just below the ceiling and saw her own body lying on the operating table. After the first stimulation, maybe from the pure curiosity of the surgeon, the area was stimulated twice thereafter. Both times she experienced OBE. For the real pictures of the brain area from the surgery click here. (WARNING! NASTY PICTURES)
The surgery went on, the tumor was removed and our lady never experienced OBE thereafter.
What does it mean? Well, either the stimulated brain area is the button for realeasing your soul OR maybe it was just an illusion.
Vitamine K
When talking about OBE I cannot ommit one very interesting substance called ketamine. Ketamine is a drug used in medicine for decades for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects. For the broad society it is rather known as a psychedelic substance causing trans-like state with common occurens of psychotic states including OBE. How does it work?
Ketamine structure
The most effects are probably caused by action on one receptor called NMDA. NMDA is a very cool receptor present on neurons of hippocampus, frontal lobe or cerebral cortex. In other words the areas involved in memory, learning, recieving and integrating memory. In all of these processes signaling through NMDA is absolutelly crucial.
Ketamine can block NMDA, so it cannot work properly. In other words - your brain cannot process and integrate the stimuli comming from outside (or inside). Your brain (you) is just completely confused and this confusion may include the actual position of your self making you experiencing OBE.
In conclusion, in my opinion there is nothing paranormal about OBE. Our brains can create this fascinating illusion when not functioning properly. But... What exactly is causing abnormal function during near death experience? I try to explain that in my next episode about oxygen supply and our brains.
References:
Case report
Ketamine and OBE
Something about NMDA
The previous episode:
Near death experience #1: What is NDE?