Dr. Raymond Moody (www.lifeafterlife.com): "Moody, who has seen the UK report, says he welcomes any study that sheds new light on near-death experiences, the term he coined. But he said he doubts that any scientific explanation will sway those who passionately believe that these experiences prove life doesn't end at death. Moody noted that great thinkers have pondered the question for thousands of years, including the Greek philosophers, who wrote about near-death experiences. But no answer has been found, he said. 'The real question of the afterlife is not even something that can be addressed by science,' Moody said. 'We're into an area here that is infinitely complex.'" (Source: Lexington Herald-Leader)

Dr. Jeffrey Long (www.nderf.org): "Dr. Jeffrey Long, a radiation oncologist in Seattle, said he is a strong believer in the spirituality of near-death experiences. Long works with the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation, an Internet-based group that provided subjects for the UK study. Long called the research results 'fascinating' and said he agrees that there is a correlation between REM intrusion and near-death experiences. He said the findings are more convincing to him than previous studies linking near-death experiences to physical factors such as decreased oxygen. But he said these sorts of explanations don't tell the whole story. 'I have come to believe there's more going on than simply biology,' Long said. 'There's a lot more research that needs to be done.'" (Source: The Courier-Journal)

Dr. P.M.H. Atwater (www.cinemind.com/atwater/): "Dateline April 10, 2006, ABC News carried an article headlined 'Neuroscientist Finds Possible Explanation of Near-Death Experiences - Mysterious Phenomenon May Be Related to Sleep Disorder.' Dr. Kevin Nelson of the University of Kentucky is the author of this study. An official reply to this will be coming from Jeffrey Long, M.D. Until then, please know this. The questions asked of participants were extremely ambiguous, so much so as to miss the point of the study. The control group consisted of friends and colleagues of Nelson - not the type of people representative of the public at large. And, it was ABC News who claimed Dr. Nelson's study "explained" near-death experiences. Dr. Nelson made no such claim in his paper. Because changes in sleep patterning and dream states occur with the majority of experiencers after their episode, and are part of the acknowledged aftereffects of the near-death phenomenon, this study by Dr. Nelson of possible sleep disorders as causal to near-death states is invalid. In order for Dr. Nelson's study to be applicable, he would have to have conducted before-and-after investigations to establish a proper baseline to even know what he is dealing with. To use the conclusions he offered or even suggest effect before cause violates scientific protocol. The sensationalism caused by this study is entirely the result of ABC News and their failure to properly investigate the report as submitted to them. Apparently their staff was more interested in making headlines than in reporting news." (Source: P.H.H Atwater's website)

Dr. Bruce Greyson (www.healthsystem.virginia.edu): "University of Virginia professor of psychiatry Bruce Greyson, MD, has studied near-death experience for many years . He remains convinced that there is more to the events than medical science can explain. "People who have had this experience do seem to be changed in very profound ways," he tells WebMD. "That is the most consistent thing that we hear, even more consistent than the phenomenon itself is the aftereffect of feeling changed.'" (Source: MedicineNet.com)

Dr. Allan Botkin (www.induced-adc.com):  "I suppose I can understand some of the excitement over Dr. Nelson's recent article, but I suggest that people take a deep breath, step back, and not jump to premature conclusions. As far as I can tell, the media has been responsible for most or all of the extreme claims associated with this new finding. In what follows, I offer my own observations, and a hypothesis that may help clear up some of the confusion.

"Although NDEs and REM intrusions have now been shown to have some relationship, it should be very clear that NDEs and REM intrusions ARE NOT THE SAME THING. The most obvious difference between NDEs and REM intrusions is that NDEs most often occur when people are close to death, and REM intrusions most often occur when people are either just waking up or falling asleep. During a REM intrusion, the experiencer is essentially half awake, and aware of his or her physical surroundings, and half asleep, and actively dreaming. The experiencer's dream, therefore, literally comes alive in the familiar environment of one's sleeping area. For this reason, REM intrusions seem more real to the experiencer than an average dream. However, in my clinical experience, a simple explanation of the foregoing allows a REM intrusion experiencer to easily cast the experience aside, as they would any other dream. Try telling an NDE experiencer that their experience was only a dream!

"This brings us to the other clear difference: the quality of NDE and REM intrusion experiences. NDEs, unlike dreams, have great clarity, are remembered in detail for a lifetime, have long lasting psychological consequences, and are highly consistent in terms of content across individuals. That there is some overlap between dream content and NDEs certainly does not come close to making the case that the two experiences are the same, or that they have the same cause. None of my REM intrusion patients ever reported a component of the NDE experience, although I am sure that is possible.

"Clearly, then, NDEs and REM intrusions are two different kinds of experiences that occur under different circumstances. So, how can it be that there is an observed relationship between the two? First, the finding that 60% of NDEers also experience REM intrusions (as opposed to 24% in the control group) is interesting, but the fact that 40% of NDEers do not report REM intrusions indicates that there is not a direct or robust causal link between these two kinds of experiences. The apparent relationship between NDEs and REM intrusions suggests to me that there is likely another variable that links the two experiences.

"My specialty for 20 years has been the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recent research has supported my earlier clinical observation that people with PTSD report a much higher frequency of REM intrusion than people without PTSD. This correlation, obviously, does not lead to the conclusion that REM intrusion experiencers are more susceptible to developing symptoms of PTSD. In the case of PTSD, it seems rather clear that since traumatic experiences have a negative impact on the sleep cycle (impaired sleep is one of the symptoms of PTSD), that people with PTSD would more often find themselves in that half awake/half asleep state, and therefore report more REM intrusions. It seems reasonable to hypothesize that a significant percentage of people who experienced NDEs were also psychologically traumatized by the circumstances that brought them to the brink of death, and therefore experience some degree of sleep disturbance. This hypothesis may completely account for the differences in REM intrusions in Dr. Nelson's study between the NDE group and the control group." (Source: Dr. Allan Botkin)

Dr. Titus Rivas (www.near-death.com):  "To Dr. Kevin Nelson, I just read your article in Neurology about the possible role of REM state intrusion in NDEs. My own approach to the topic of NDE is very different from yours, as I do not accept the apriori (ontological) assumption that all of our psychological processes have to be neurologically based. In fact, I think that the NDE is an important battleground between opponents and proponents of this common mainstream outlook on the mind-brain problem. For me, the main issue involved in NDE research is concentrated on the question whether there are any non-physical, transcendent elements involved. It seems obvious to me that if there are, these cannot at the same time be reduced to neurology. I would like to know your opinion on the following subjects:

(1)  Some NDEs, such as the renowned case of Pam Reynolds studied by Dr. Michael B. Sabom would take place during a flattened EEG, meaning that the brain could not be expected to support any type of consciousness, neither normal waking consciousness nor REM state consciousness. Thus, if these NDEs do occur, they cannot be based on any known or plausible neurological process, your hypothetical REM state intrusion included

(2)  Also, in some NDEs, such as of that Pam Reynolds or Al Sullivan (covered in this article by Cook, Greyson and Stevenson) there would be an anomolous, neurologically inexplicable, correct perception of physical circumstances. This feature, if real, would refute any neurological hypotheses (including your REM state intrusion hypothesis) as the major cause of NDEs.

(3)  Support for the afterlife hypothesis from NDEs would indeed be threatened if your hypothesis is correct, as (again) a neurological ultimate cause of NDEs is simply incompatible with a non-neurological (transcendent) ultimate cause

Please note that I might mention your reply in online comments on your article." (Source: Dr. Titus Rivas)

Dr. Andrew Newberg (www.andrewnewberg.com): "It is not clear - nor do the authors specifically claim - that NDEs are caused by the same mechanisms associated with REM sleep," said Andrew Newberg, M.D., associate professor of radiology and psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. "That there is an association is interesting - although even though it is statistically greater in NDErs than in controls, the relationship only occurs in about half of people who have had NDEs," he told TechNewsWorld ... The researchers want to understand what creates near-death experiences - the "how" rather than the "why." "This type of study, while interesting, does not write off such experiences as purely neurological, nor does it suggest that such experiences are real," explained Newberg. (Source: TechNewsWorld)

Generally speaking, the news reporting of this important study has been fairly accurate. However, some headlines about this study are very misleading. Here are some links to the wide variety of headlines:

Examples of Accurate Headlines:

Examples of Misleading Headlines:

Examples of Erroneous Headlines:

Examples of Humorous Headlines:

Examples of Headlines That Have a Disclaimer in Them: