Near-death experiences reported in Thailand differ from those in the West, lacking common Western features but consistently including harbingers of death, visions of hell, the Lord of the underworld, and the benefits of donations to Buddhist monks and temples. These features align with Southeast Asian beliefs and customs, suggesting that NDE phenomenology partly fulfills individuals' expectations of death, which are shaped by culture and religion. One case illustrates stress from living in both Thai and Chinese cultures. Despite content differences, Thai and Western NDEs follow a similar sequence, indicating a shared underlying function.
The interpretive cortex contains mechanisms for reactivating detailed past records and generating interpretive signals. These signals depend on scanning past experiences and selecting relevant ones for comparison with present experience, a subconscious process that may also make relevant past available for conscious consideration. Access to past records is equally available from the temporal cortex of either side. Auditory illusions and illusional emotions are produced by stimulating either temporal cortex, but visual illusions and illusions of recognition are produced only by stimulating the nondominant (right) temporal cortex, except in one case.