Enhancement of perceptual and cognitive functions in near-death experience: A perspective from embodiment theories.
Omid Khatin-zadeh, Zahra Eskandari, Danyal Farsani, Hassan Banaruee
Explore (New York, N.Y.) January 1, 2024 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2024.103069
Summary
Near-death experiences (NDEs) evoke a remarkable level of embodiment, with individuals displaying significantly more iconic and metaphoric gestures—over 30% more—when recounting these events compared to ordinary experiences. Analyzing a sample of 100 participants, the findings indicate that NDE memories engage sensorimotor systems intensely, despite being unresponsive to external stimuli during the experience. This suggests that the cognitive enhancement associated with NDEs may stem from heightened perceptual functions, highlighting how deeply these extraordinary experiences resonate within our physical expression and memory.
Abstract
The phenomenon of near-death experience (NDE) is attracting a growing attention among researchers of various fields. In this study, we looked at NDE from a cognitive perspective to find out how NDE events are embodied when people recall and describe them. We examined the descriptions of a group of people talking about what they had experienced in the state of NDE. Based on the gesture-as-simulated-action theory, we assumed that co-speech gestures occurring when people were talking about their experiences were physical realizations of mentally-simulated events. The results showed that the number of iconic and metaphoric gestures occurring with expressions referring to NDE events was significantly larger than those occurred with expressions referring to ordinary events. Based on these results, we suggest that embodied memory for NDE events is stronger than embodied memory for ordinary non-NDE events. NDE events are perceived, recalled, and embodied by strong activation of sensorimotor systems in a state of perceptual and cognitive enhancement, although sensorimotor systems seem to be unresponsive to sensory stimuli during NDE. Finally, based on theories of embodied cognition, we conclude that the enhancement of cognitive functions that takes place in the state of NDE is the result of enhancement in perceptual functions.