原文: What Are Near Death Experiences?--Scientists Study What Goes on in the Brain When a Person Nears Death

Do near death experiences provide proof of life after death or do they mean we need to study how the human mind works a little bit more?

Near death experiences have been reported around the world for millennia. In an era of television, radio, and the Internet, computer users can choose to read about the theories behind near death experiences at almost any time of day. Strangely enough, for the scientist, the debate does not center on whether or not they happen, but on what near death experiences are.

Common Features of Near Death Experiences

Many near death experiences have common features including being near death, feeling an overwhelming sense of euphoria, and often the person experiencing the near death experience is told that it is not his time to die and that he needs to return to his body, according to Time Magazine. Somewhere between 4 to 18 percent of people who are revived after having a heart attack will report having a near death experience.

Brain Functions Cause of Near Death Experience

Skeptics maintain that the near death experiences are caused by an oxygen starved brain. Skeptics also point out the reports of NDEs contain elements that can be explained by scientific processes. Believers in the phenomenon state that science cannot account for all of the events that take place during a near death experience. Although what happens in the brain can be explained by neurochemistry, supporters argue that consciousness can exist independent of a functioning brain. A study conducted at the University of Virginia examined the accuracy of observations by people who claimed to have undergone a near death experience. Many reports made by such patients were accurate.

Near death experiences should not happen at all as they occur at a time when the brain should not be able to function, yet the time between lack of brain function and the patient coming back to consciousness indicate that people are capable of forming clear memories while being clinically dead. Not everyone who undergoes a near death experience experience that puts him or her at death's door will experience the phenomenon. The lack of universality caused a team of Dutch researchers to suggest that NDEs had a purely physiological explanation.

Differing Reports of Near Death Experiences

Not every near death experience includes the light at the end of the tunnel. Some people come back and report being tortured by elves or demons. Theologians, Priests, Imams and people who make their living studying the will of God point to the reports of near death experiences as proof of an afterlife, while skeptics insist that the varying accounts merely mean that it is something going inside the head of the person undergoing a near death experience.

Scientists believe the most likely explanation for near death experiences is the result of a brain state entered when the heart goes into cardiac arrest coupled with the effects of anesthesia. Similar experiences have been duplicated by fighter pilots undergoing rapid acceleration.

译文: 何为濒死经历－－科学家们正在研究人们濒临死亡时大脑里所发生的一切！

濒死经历是否给亡灵一说带来了证据，还是暗示我们需要更深入研究人类的思维呢？
许多年来世界各地都有濒死经历（NDE）的相关报道。而在电视、无线电和互联网时代，人们可以随时使用电脑来学习有关濒死经历的学说理论。奇怪的是，科学家们争论的焦点并不是他们（NDE）是否存在，而是到底何为濒死经历。

濒死经历的共同特点
据时代杂志所说，许多人的濒死经历都有着共同的特征，比如快要死了时会情不自禁的很兴奋，并且冥冥中会听到有人说你还没到死的时候，回到你的躯体里去吧。差不多4－18％的心脏病患者心脏病发又被救活的过程中会有濒死经历。

导致濒死经历的脑功能
无神论者认为濒死经历是由脑部缺氧引起的，他们还指出濒死经历的报告含有可以被科学解释的成分。然而NDE的信仰者们认为，不是所有在濒死经历中发生的事情都可以用科学来解释的，尽管大脑里发生的变化可以通过神经化学来解释，他们还是坚持意识可以脱离人脑而存在。弗吉尼亚洲（美国）大学做了一个研究，来调查自称有过濒死经历的病人的报告的精确性，结果许多都是精确的。
如果大脑停止了运作濒死经历是不可能发生的，然而在大脑功能丧失到病人渐渐恢复意识这段时间，也表明了病人能够形成清晰的记忆，而通过临床诊断已死亡。不是每个人都能经历濒死体验的，这种经历现象会迫使他或她在鬼门关周旋。缺乏普遍性的原因：一支荷兰团队的研究员提议NDEs可以解释成纯粹的生理现象。

濒死经历的不同报告
并不是每个濒死经验在最后一瞬间都会出现一道光芒。在一些濒死病人的回忆中记载着他们受到精灵或恶魔折磨。神学研究者，牧师，伊玛目，他们一生都在学习上帝的意旨，上帝旨意指明了濒死经历会有来生，而无神论者坚持认为多种描述只是意味着在人的头脑里经历过濒死经验。
科学家认为，最有可能解释濒死经验的是由于大脑进入昏睡状态，当心脏进入遏止阶段时结合麻醉剂的作用。
如今快速促进类似的经历已经由向导拷贝了一份。