Postcards from heaven: scientists to study near-death experiences

Scientists from University of Southampton design experiment to investigate out-of-body experiences in heart attack survivors

What happens when we die? It has to be one of life's biggest questions, if not the biggest.

Many of those who have come close to death report surprisingly similar experiences – being in a tunnel of lights, or soaring out of their bodies and looking down on the medical staff trying to keep them attached to the mortal coil.

In an effort to get to the bottom of this mysterious phenomenon, scientists have designed a new experiment to examine near-death experiences in heart attack survivors. Launched by the University of Southampton, it will be the largest ever international study into near-death experiences, involving 1,500 heart attack patients.

And how are they going to prove whether humans really do have souls that break away from their bodies as they die and shuffle off towards eternity?

With a bit of DIY and some postcards, it would seem. Researchers are setting up shelves above patients' beds on which a number of pictures will be put that can only be seen from above the ground.

Patients will then be asked to recall any memories from the time of their cardiac arrest. If they can describe the pictures on the shelves, the scientists will have some proof of whether or not these out-of-body experiences are real, or just illusionary dreams.

The project is being led by Dr Sam Parnia, an intensive care specialist.

"Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment. It is a process that begins when the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working and the brain ceases functioning - a medical condition termed cardiac arrest.


It sounds like a fairly straightforward exercise. But what if, while you were having your out-of-body experience, you didn't notice the pictures? You might, quite understandably, be otherwise engrossed in looking at your expiring self or wondering why your loved ones hadn't bothered to turn up at your deathbed.

So can this experiment prove anything? And should science even be attempting to investigate this – shouldn't doctors be concentrating on how to save lives rather than researching what happens if they fail?