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What do you guys think of this theory? It seems a bit more plausible than some of the theories I have heard from scentists.

A surge of electrical activity in the brain could be responsible for the vivid experiences described by near-death survivors, scientists report.
A study carried out on dying rats found high levels of brainwaves at the point of the animals' demise.
US researchers said that in humans this could give rise to a heightened state of consciousness.
The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The lead author of the study, Dr Jimo Borjigin, of the University of Michigan, said: "A lot of people thought that the brain after clinical death was inactive or hypoactive, with less activity than the waking state, and we show that is definitely not the case.
"If anything, it is much more active during the dying process than even the waking state."
Consciousness
From bright white lights to out-of-body sensations and feelings of life flashing before their eyes, the experiences reported by people who have come close to death but survived are common the world over.
However, studying this in humans is a challenge, and these visions are little understood.
To find out more, scientists at the University of Michigan monitored nine rats as they were dying.
In the 30-second period after the animal's hearts stopped beating, they measured a sharp increase in high-frequency brainwaves called gamma oscillations.
These pulses are one of the neuronal features that are thought to underpin consciousness in humans, especially when they help to "link" information from different parts of the brain.
In the rats, these electrical pulses were found at even higher levels just after the cardiac arrest than when animals were awake and well.
Dr Borjigin said it was feasible that the same thing would happen in the human brain, and that an elevated level of brain activity and consciousness could give rise to near-death visions.
"This can give us a framework to begin to explain these. The fact they see light perhaps indicates the visual cortex in the brain is highly activated - and we have evidence to suggest this might be the case, because we have seen increased gamma in area of the brain that is right on top of the visual cortex," she said.
"We have seen increased coupling between the lower-frequency waves and the gamma that has been shown to be a feature of visual awareness and visual sensation."
However, she said that to confirm the findings a study would have to be carried out on humans who have experienced clinical death and have been revived.
Commenting on the research, Dr Jason Braithwaite, of the University of Birmingham, said the phenomenon appeared to be the brain's "last hurrah".
"This is a very neat demonstration of an idea that's been around for a long time: that under certain unfamiliar and confusing circumstances - like near-death - the brain becomes overstimulated and hyperexcited," he said.
Striking
"Like 'fire raging through the brain', activity can surge through brain areas involved in conscious experience, furnishing all resultant perceptions with realer-than-real feelings and emotions."
But he added: "One limitation is that we do not know when, in time, the near-death experience really occurs. Perhaps it was before patients had anaesthesia, or at some safe point during an operation long before cardiac arrest.
"However, for those instances where experiences may occur around the time of cardiac arrest - or beyond it - these new findings provide further meat to the bones of the idea that the brain drives these fascinating and striking experiences"
Dr Chris Chambers, of Cardiff University, said: "This is an interesting and well-conducted piece of research. We know precious little about brain activity during death, let alone conscious brain activity. These findings open the door to further studies in humans.
"[But] we should be extremely cautious before drawing any conclusions about human near-death experiences: it is one thing to measure brain activity in rats during cardiac arrest, and quite another to relate that to human experience."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23672150?print=true

A near-death experience happens when quantum substances which form the soul leave the nervous system and enter the universe at large, according to a remarkable theory proposed by two eminent scientists.
According to this idea, consciousness is a program for a quantum computer in the brain which can persist in the universe even after death, explaining the perceptions of those who have near-death experiences.
Dr Stuart Hameroff, Professor Emeritus at the Departments of Anesthesiology and Psychology and the Director of the Centre of Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, has advanced the quasi-religious theory.
It is based on a quantum theory of consciousness he and British physicist Sir Roger Penrose have developed which holds that the essence of our soul is contained inside structures called microtubules within brain cells.
They have argued that our experience of consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects in these microtubules, a theory which they dubbed orchestrated objective reduction (Orch-OR).
Thus it is held that our souls are more than the interaction of neurons in the brain. They are in fact constructed from the very fabric of the universe - and may have existed since the beginning of time.

The concept is similar to the Buddhist and Hindu belief that consciousness is an integral part of the universe - and indeed that it is really all there may be, a position similar to Western philosophical idealism.
With these beliefs, Dr Hameroff holds that in a near-death experience the microtubules lose their quantum state, but the information within them is not destroyed. Instead it merely leaves the body and returns to the cosmos.

Dr Hameroff told the Science Channel's Through the Wormhole documentary: 'Let's say the heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing, the microtubules lose their quantum state.
'The quantum information within the microtubules is not destroyed, it can't be destroyed, it just distributes and dissipates to the universe at large.
'If the patient is resuscitated, revived, this quantum information can go back into the microtubules and the patient says "I had a near death experience".'
He adds: 'If they're not revived, and the patient dies, it's possible that this quantum information can exist outside the body, perhaps indefinitely, as a soul.'
The Orch-OR theory has come in for heavy criticism by more empirically minded thinkers and remains controversial among the scientific community.
MIT physicist Max Tegmark is just one of the many scientists to have challenged it, in a 2000 paper that is widely cited by opponents, the Huffington Post reports.
Nevertheless, Dr Hameroff believes that research in to quantum physics is beginning to validate Orch-Or, with quantum effects recently being shown to support many important biological processes, such as smell, bird navigation and photosynthesis.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2225190/Can-quantum-physics-explain-bizarre-experiences-patients-brought-brink-death.html#ixzz2AoAso3UH

Must say I find this article great! Atleast some people are coming up with some good ideas!

Professor Silas Beane, a theoretical physicist at the University of Bonn in Germany said that his group of scientists have developed a way to test the 'simulation hypothesis'.
The idea has been debated by the greats of philosphy, from Plato to Descartes, who speculated that the world we see around us could be generated by an 'evil demon'.
The successful film franchise, The Matrix, also helped spawn the idea that what we think is our everyday life is in fact a simulation generated by an all-powerful computer.
But now more than two thousand years since Plato suggested that our senses only give us a poor reflection of objective reality, experts believe they have cracked the riddle.
Professor Beane told Radio 4's Today programme that his proposal could be the beginning of a new period of discovery.

The test would see scientists using mathetical models known as the lattice QCD approach in an attempt to recreate - on a theoretical level - a simulated reality.
To identify what these constraints would be, scientists would have to build their own simulation of the universe.
They hope to see whether such an exercise would be theoretically possible - and what the constraints on the 'evil demon' might be.
Lattice QCD is a complex approach that that looks at how particles known as quarks and gluons relate in three dimensions.
Professor Bean said: "We consider ourselves on some level universe simulators because we calculate the interactions of particles by basically replacing space and time by a grid and putting it in a box."
"In doing that we face lots of problems for instance the box and the grid size breaks Einstein's special theory of relativity so we know how to fix this in order to get physical predictions that are meaningful."
"We thought that if we make the assumption that the so-called simulators face some of the same problems that we do in terms of finite resources and so on then, if they are doing a simulation and even though their box size of course is enormous and the grid size can be very small, as long as the resources are finite then the box size will be finite, the grid size will be finite."
"And therefore at some level for instance there would be violations of Einstein's special theory of relativity."
Philosophers have cautioned that there is still some way to go before we find out whether the universe is simulated. Dr Peter Millican of Hertford College, Oxford told the programme: "There are two main issues, one is whether the speculation even makes sense and the other is supposing it makes sense whether there is any good reason to think it is plausible.
"The other problem is evidence. It seems to me that the evidence that is looked for is not that convincing."
Descartes said the evil demon that he believed controlled the universe is "as clever and deceitful as he is powerful, who has directed his entire effort to misleading me."
But he countered that his ability to think was, at least, proof enough that he was real, writing: "I think, therefore I am."
Plato said that reality may be no more than shadows in a cave but the cave dweller, having never left the cave, may not be aware of it.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9635166/Scientists-believe-they-have-come-close-to-solving-the-Matrix-theory.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2214836/It-place-clouds-big-puffy-pink-white-The-prominent-neurosurgeon-convinced-theres-heaven-body-experience.html

Lovely story wish more skeptics would get the chance to have one:D

So I was reading an article on the Hubble and the eXtreme Deep Field image. According to the article it takes 13.7 billion years for the light from the galaxy they decided to image to get here that is just 460 million years after when the big bang is thought to of occurred. So it got me wondering maybe the reason we haven't seen any life yet is because of the fact that we are basically looking at a historic universe when we take these images.

Put it this way if we were in the galaxy that Hubble was taking the picture of then the people operating Hubble would see earth 13.7 billion years ago.  That would mean there would be no life on the planet and the planet would probably of been hostile to life at the time.

So maybe the reason we have not found life apart from our planet is because we are constantly looking at a past universe.

I found this really interesting though it's not directly related to the astral. The fact that neuroscientists pretend to know what each brain part does...They don't.

According to some theories on how self-awareness arises in the brain, Patient R, a man who suffered a severe brain injury about 30 years ago, should not possess this aspect of consciousness.
In 1980, a bout of encephalitis caused by the common herpes simplex virus damaged his brain, leaving Patient R, now 57, with amnesia and unable to live on his own.
Even so, Patient R functions quite normally, said Justin Feinstein, a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Iowa who has worked with him. "To a layperson, to meet him for the first time, you would have no idea anything is wrong with him," Feinstein said.
Feinstein and colleagues set out to test Patient R's level of self-awareness using a battery of tools that included a mirror, photos, tickling, a lemon, an onion, a personality assessment and an interview that asked profound questions like "What do you think happens after you die?" [The Science of Death: 10 Morbid Tales]
Their conclusion — that Patient R's self-awareness is largely intact in spite of his brain injury — indicates certain regions of the brain thought crucial for self-awareness are not.
Brain anatomy
Self-awareness is a complex concept, and neuroscientists are debating from where it arises in the brain. Some have argued that certain regions in the brain play critical roles in generating self-awareness.
The regions neuroscientists have advocated include the insular cortex, thought to play a fundamental role in all aspects of self-awareness; the anterior cingulate cortex, implicated in body and emotional awareness, as well as the ability to recognize one's own face and process one's conscious experience; and the medial prefrontal cortex, linked with processing information about oneself.
Patient R's illness destroyed nearly all of these regions of his brain. Using brain-imaging techniques, Feinstein and colleagues determined that the small patches of tissue remaining appeared defective and disconnected from the rest of the brain. [Inside the Brain: A Journey Through Time]
The tests
The team breaks self-awareness down into three components: an awareness of one's body and a sense of one's ability to act; autobiographical memories and a sense of one's own traits; and an ability to reflect on one's own actions, mental state and their consequences.
The first test they gave Patient R is the mirror test. The researchers sneaked a bit of black eye shadow onto R's nose under the pretense of brushing something off his nose. When he was later shown his reflection in the mirror, the researchers watched to see if he responded to the mark on his nose.
He was also shown photos of himself throughout his life along with photos of family, familiar people and strangers and asked whether or not he could identify himself. In unaltered photos, he was 100 percent successful in identifying himself, but he had difficulty recognizing himself in photos altered to exclude everything except his own face.
"However, he never rated a picture of another person as himself," note the researchers.
R suffers from amnesia that affects memories of some experiences that occurred before his illness, and prevents him from forming new memories since, so these results suggest he was able to maintain a concept of himself even beyond his own amnesia, Feinstein said.
In another test, R's response to being tickled by himself versus by a researcher, was recorded. Tickling can be used to test self-awareness because tickling yourself doesn't feel the same as being tickled by someone else. "R was never observed laughing or displaying jerking movements during any of the self-administered tickling trials," they write.
Researchers assessed his awareness of the amount of control he exerted over a box moving around a computer screen, and had him and family members assess his personality.
An exception
R's brain injury took away his sense of smell and taste, as well as much of his memory. R partially acknowledges his memory loss, even describing himself as a "normal person with a bad memory," However, he does not admit that he cannot smell or taste.
The researchers put this to the test by blindfolding him and then offering him an onion or lemon or odorless items and asking what he smelled. With the blindfold on, he could not smell the lemon or onion. With it off, he claimed to smell them, explaining, "I guess sight makes things easier."`
Knowing one's limitations is an aspect of self-awareness, Feinstein said.
Patient R & the origin of self-awareness
Finally, in an interview the researchers assessed his capacity for introspection, asking him questions about free will, the self, emotion and other abstract concepts.
"I think what the interview reveals is clearly somebody who is not impaired in most aspects of self-awareness," Feinstein said. "If you were asking someone who was a zombie, you wouldn't get any of these sorts of answers."
The results of the assessment are clear, he and colleagues contend: Neither the insula cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex nor the medial prefrontal cortex play crucial roles in self-awareness.
Patient R's self-awareness does, however, support the theory that sets of neurons in the brain stem may provide the foundation for consciousness and the sense of self. This part of R's brain is undamaged. The team also suggests other parts of the brain,the thalamus and the posteromedial cortex, play a role in self-awareness.
"The brain more than likely doesn't have a single region that is devoted to self awareness, but rather, the complex phenomenon likely emerges from much more distributed interactions between multiple brain regions," Feinstein said. "I think it is important to emphasize that the study of self-awareness in the brain is really in its early stages."
The research was published Thursday in the journal PLoS ONE.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/23/brain-damaged-patient-r-challenges-theories-self-awareness/?utm_campaign=Feed:%20foxnews/health%20(Internal%20-%20Health%20-%20Text)&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&intcmp=obinsite#ixzz26rSy9Hnt

Could be promising and be a good kick start to help study obe's and nde's. I did find the bit about western nde's being different from eastern nde's. I always thought that they were very similar.

Source:http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/feature/6442698560/story.html

TORONTO – What happens in your brain during an out-of-body experience? Would an afterlife be boring or would it be worthwhile to live forever? If you've ever pondered these questions, a California study dubbed The Immortality Project is looking for the same answers that you are, and more.

A US $5-million grant from the John Templeton Foundation has been awarded to University of California at Riverside philosopher John Martin Fischer to fund research on aspects of immortality.

Fischer is organizing competitions, selecting judges and consulting with potential (and actual) recipients of research grants, though won't be conducting the research himself. Funding for grants will be distributed as follows: $2.5 million for scientific studies and $1.5 million for theology and philosophy projects.

Participants will consist of carefully selected top scientists, philosophers, and theologians from around the world, though proposals must be submitted in English.

The Immortality Project is officially underway, and advertising for the first competition for science research proposals will begin Sept. 1.

So what kind of ideas is Fischer expecting?

On the phone from Germany, he explained that one possibility is taking past reports of near-death experiences and comparing them across countries like the Canada, the U.S., Japan, India and Africa.

Fischer says in the West, people often report seeing a dark tunnel with a bright light at the end when describing near-death experiences, while people in Japan describe tending a garden.

He points to the fact that in most western cultures we have the saying 'there's a light at the end of the tunnel' while in Japan there's a story of how to keep in touch with loved ones as you age by buying a garden and tending it together.

"It's pure speculation, but maybe somehow, psychologically, when there's a tremendous threat to us and it feels like we're about to die, we can somehow reach for that comfort zone or that idea that there's light at the end of the tunnel." Or a garden with friends, if you're Japanese.

He says another possibility would be simulating so-called out-of-body experiences to test whether people can really 'see themselves' from different viewpoints, as is often reported.

In the realm of neuroscience, studies could test if there are features of the brain that predispose people to believe in an afterlife, or if there are scans that can reveal brain phenomena when people are having out-of-body experiences. All experiments using people would have to be approved by ethics committees.

An additional area of study is cataloguing people's beliefs about the afterlife and finding links to their behaviour e.g. finding out if people who believe in hell are less likely to commit crimes, as some empirical studies have suggested.

In the philosophy and theology realms, the project would support sabbaticals for winners to write articles and books on topics such as whether the conceptions of heaven, hell and purgatory are philosophically defensible, or whether or not it would even be desirable to live forever.

Fischer believes the project came together now because of increasing interest among scientists in the possibility of increasing the human lifespan, but notes that we've always been interested in the possibility of defeating death, as evidenced by stories that began with Adam and Eve.

"Even to the present where we have this fascination with vampire literature – the vampires seek a kind of immortality by taking other people's blood," he says. "Throughout religion, science—the history of both Western and Eastern science—and literature, we've been seeking this kind of fountain of youth."

Fischer admits that he would be surprised to find definitive answers on the various aspects of immortality, but aims to make progress on what we do know about death. He emphasizes that the primary focus isn't just near-death experiences, and hopes that by thinking about immortality, we can learn what we value in our finite lives.

While he says he's "not a religious believer," he remains open-minded about the possibility of an afterlife.

"My father, who passed away recently, was a cardiologist and my brother is a cardiologist and they both treat patients who are very sick and sometimes die," he says. "Maybe when I was young I was thinking about these issues, because I saw that my father would really try and help people, and sometimes he couldn't, and so maybe that got me started."

So I had my first real (sort of) experience last night. I couldn't sleep last night I had too much on my mind so I decided to meditate instead of tossing and turning. I didn't really have any intention of having an OBE I was just trying to clear my mind and relax. After a while lying in bed I felt like my arms were out of my body I felt like I could wave my astral hands it felt so real. I then started feeling electric like shocks throughout my body and I felt a sort of pressure round my nose. Sadly I got too excited meaning that whatever I was getting close to achieving went.

Still it's a big improvement for me I don't think I've had an experience like that in all the years I have tried. I think I got further this time because I had no expectations of wanting to achieve an obe I was purely meditating to calm my mind and pass the time since I could not sleep.

I found this while randomly checking news sites today:

Which areas of the brain help us to perceive our world in a self-reflective manner is difficult to measure. During wakefulness, we are always conscious of ourselves. In sleep, however, we are not. But there are people, known as lucid dreamers, who can become aware of dreaming during sleep. Studies employing magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) have now been able to demonstrate that a specific cortical network consisting of the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the frontopolar regions and the precuneus is activated when this lucid consciousness is attained. All of these regions are associated with self-reflective functions. This research into lucid dreaming gives the authors of the latest study insight into the neural basis of human consciousness.

The human capacity of self-perception, self-reflection and consciousness development are among the unsolved mysteries of neuroscience. Despite modern imaging techniques, it is still impossible to fully visualise what goes on in the brain when people move to consciousness from an unconscious state. The problem lies in the fact that it is difficult to watch our brain during this transitional change. Although this process is the same, every time a person awakens from sleep, the basic activity of our brain is usually greatly reduced during deep sleep. This makes it impossible to clearly delineate the specific brain activity underlying the regained self-perception and consciousness during the transition to wakefulness from the global changes in brain activity that takes place at the same time.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institutes of Psychiatry in Munich and for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and from Charité in Berlin have now studied people who are aware that they are dreaming while being in a dream state, and are also able to deliberately control their dreams. Those so-called lucid dreamers have access to their memories during lucid dreaming, can perform actions and are aware of themselves – although remaining unmistakably in a dream state and not waking up. As author Martin Dresler explains, "In a normal dream, we have a very basal consciousness, we experience perceptions and emotions but we are not aware that we are only dreaming. It's only in a lucid dream that the dreamer gets a meta-insight into his or her state."

By comparing the activity of the brain during one of these lucid periods with the activity measured immediately before in a normal dream, the scientists were able to identify the characteristic brain activities of lucid awareness.

"The general basic activity of the brain is similar in a normal dream and in a lucid dream," says Michael Czisch, head of a research group at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry. "In a lucid state, however, the activity in certain areas of the cerebral cortex increases markedly within seconds. The involved areas of the cerebral cortex are the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, to which commonly the function of self-assessment is attributed, and the frontopolar regions, which are responsible for evaluating our own thoughts and feelings. The precuneus is also especially active, a part of the brain that has long been linked with self-perception." The findings confirm earlier studies and have made the neural networks of a conscious mental state visible for the first time.

http://www.mpg.de/5925490/meta-consciousness-brain

I find it quite fascinating I did some quick research today looking through a few forums some seem to believe that it does get harder to successful project as you get older. I believe Sylvan Muldoon started projecting less when he got older (atleast according to some sites) but then you have people like Robert Monroe who I believe had his first OBE in his 40's and continued to project till very near his death. Emanuel Swedenborg many believe also experienced obe's and seems to of started getting them when he was in his 50's when turned quite spiritual (though I may be wrong).

My question is there any link between age and the number of times you can successfully project? Those who are older amongst us have you found it more difficult to project as time has gone by?

Just thought I'd share this after finding it in the newspapers this morning 

Joanna Lumley says she does not fear death, thanks to her strong belief in reincarnation.
She has even claimed she 'might have been a boy in the First World War' during a visit to a battle site.
The actress said she 'recognises places' from visits in her previous lives, adding that an 'immense calm' she felt in Ypres, Belgium, led her to believe she may have fought there as a young soldier.
She also said she feels 'tremendous' and 'very positive' about her own death.
She said: 'I don't think anybody should be scared of dying.'
In an interview, Lumley told a Sunday magazine: 'I have been here before.
'I recognise places. When I visited Ypres I felt an immense calm.
'I think I might have been a boy in the First World War.'

The 66-year-old former Bond girl, best known for her portrayal of louche fashion director Patsy in the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, was born and raised in India and the Far East before becoming an actress.
Her opinions on death reflect the philosophy of the regions where she spent her formative years. 'Be no more afraid of dying than you are of going to sleep,' she said.
'Every day is a pattern. You are born in the morning, you live through the day and when you put your head on the pillow that is your death.'

Hailed as a 'Nepalese national treasure' for her campaign for immigration rights for Gurkhas who have fought for Britain, Kashmir-born Miss Lumley has enjoyed a glittering four-decade acting career.
The former model turned Bond girl has starred in 30 movies and over 40 television shows, and is the proud recipient of three Baftas and an OBE.

The comments are the latest philosophical pronouncements from the veteran actress, who last week admitted she is a despot who could never stand as an MP as she does not 'really believe in democracy'.
'I believe in a benevolent despotism. I'm a despot,' she told Australian media.
'I will say what is good for you and it will be good and it will be kind but I can't have argue, argue, argue, argue, argue.'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2150927/Joanna-Lumley-tells-does-fear-death--believes-WWI-boy-soldier-previous-life.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Well I've been trying to astral project for some time but am having difficulties doing so, on the positive side though every time I go to sleep trying to project (well 98% of the time) I will have a conscious dream. Now that has got me thinking about trying to realise I am dreaming so I can project. So far I've tried writing a letter on my hand and throughout the day looking at it so when I do dream and I don't see a letter on my hand I will know I am dreaming..... That hasn't worked so far so does anyone have any other ideas which I can try?

Okay I'm guessing most people don't have an answer to this other than 'I don't know' but I'm curious about peoples opinion. My question is How are souls assigned bodies? Many people say we pick who we are but that seems a bit illogical. Firstly many people suffer greatly during their existence in this world, how many people would pick to live for instance in a life where they get abused by their parents for instance. Secondly if I am not mistaken every body should have a soul so how about if no one wants that 'life' which is being offered does that mean that person is created without a consciousness?

Just something I've always wondered. 

I've been trying every technique, cd and tips to have an OBE for about 2 years and so far I have not been close to anything close to an OBE. Last night I decided to forget all these techniques and to just breath in my nose breath out my mouth constantly. After abut 5 minutes I felt tingling all over my body and my heart felt like it was pounding. I stopped there I was concerned about my heart only to find upon opening my eyes that my heart was not pounding. I did a search I believe that was my heart chakra and that I have finally made some progress. In saying that I'd appreciate some comments, and any tips you could provide? I don't lie flat on my back when trying to project as it does not feel that conformable instead I lie on my side does that have any negative impact on projecting?

Question is simple Buddhist believe in an endless circle till you have reached a certain enlightenment and I know quite a few people on this board believe in Reincarnation in some form with us in some cases being willing and in others unwilling participants in reincarnation. So the question arises what happens when the soon expands to engulf the earth destroying all living creatures on earth. What happens to reincarnation then? And don't tell me that by then humans will of started settling on planets further away from the sun because our nearest galaxy is also due to collide with ours.