Scientists discover the mystery of afterlife visions

The "tunnel of light" by which the dying persons reportedly travel to
the afterlife, the cherubs and other heavenly creatures who welcome them
on the other side are mere hallucinations.
The tunnel of light is only a hallucination

"About 60 percent of all people who were taken to an intensive care unit
spent some time in a state of "near death," says Oleg Vasiliev, doctor
of highest category, staff member of the Institute of Resuscitation
Studies of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. "After being brought
back to life, they told stories about the bright light they were taken
to as if by a fast elevator, the faces of their deceased loved ones they
saw in the 'afterlife', some even said that they had been welcomed by
Jesus Christ.

However, the latest studies show that all those visions stem from the
physiological processes that occur in the damaged brain of a patient.
First, the state is caused by oxygen deficiency, which has an impact on
the brain and trigger hallucinations. Secondly, the release of
endorphins results in a "sensation of unearthly calm" mentioned by the
majority of patients. The endorphins are natural sedative agents
produced by the body following an injury or stressful experience. Third,
a rare ophthalmologic phenomenon can explain the "tunnel effect." The
person sees only the images created by the optic system regardless of
signals entering the retina. The phenomenon is also stress-related,"
says Dr. Vasiliev.

The state of "near death" was also reported by persons who were not
dying at the time e.g. women during labor and people tormented by
nightmares. Robert Baker, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky,
arrived at the following conclusion: "The human brain responds
accordingly when subjected to unusual mental and physical stress. It
responds in a neurochemical way by producing defensive hallucinations,
which fit in nicely in our religious beliefs, folklore, our hopes and
fears."

The report on a real state of "near death" that can be induced in a
healthy person by injecting him with 50-100 ml of ketamin, an
anesthetic, was probably the most killing argument to back the
physiological theory.

"Therefore, the accounts of those who returned from the "other side"
can't be held as evidence of life after death," sums up Dc. Vasiliev. As
for the ketamin theory, it may as well explain the experiences relayed
by those who claimed to exit their bodies," adds he.

Komsomolskaya Pravda