A neuroscientist’s near death experience: six years ago, after a long surgery, my heart stopped for three to five minutes. Here’s what I saw, and what the science says.
I flatlined in the ICU, left my body, and watched my husband Mac bang on the door shouting that something was wrong. In this episode, my daughter Dominique and I talk through that experience, a shared death experience I had years later, and why so many researchers now say a dying, oxygen-starved brain can’t explain what people report.
What you’ll learn:
-What happens when you die, from someone who came back and studies consciousness for a living
-Why the oxygen deprivation and hallucination theories don’t match what experiencers describe
-How nearly dying can take away the fear of death for good
-What a shared death experience is, and why the reports are so consistent
-How your mind drives your brain, and why that gives you more power than you realize
Chapters: 00:00 A neuroscientist’s near death experience 02:45 What is an NDE? 04:40 My heart stopped: flatlining after surgery 09:40 How it took away my fear of death 11:00 Time distortion and the nonconscious mind 13:00 What is a shared death experience? 15:15 Consciousness beyond space and time 23:05 Is it just oxygen deprivation or a drug effect? 25:50 Why NDEs look the same across cultures 28:30 What neurosurgeons found about hypoxia 30:30 Gamma brain waves and the dying brain 32:20 Four reasons hypoxia doesn’t explain NDEs 35:10 The life review 38:30 How nearly dying changed my life 42:00 Memento mori: remembering death to live well 45:30 Your mind is your superpower
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Research mentioned: Dr. Raymond Moody, Life After Life Dr. Bruce Greyson, After Dr. Michael Egnor, The Immortal Mind Dr. Eben Alexander, Proof of Heaven Dr. Sam Parnia, AWARE-II study (Resuscitation, 2023)
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#DrCarolineLeaf #NearDeathExperience #Consciousness #Neuroscience #MentalHealth
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Good interview.
Wow…..so encouraging ❤thank you for sharing.
This was such an encouraging episode. Thank you, Dr. Leaf, for sharing your own personal experience. Hearing someone I know and trust had an NDE is so helpful. Love to you all!
I would love more info regarding this newer understanding of physics and space/time.
How do these NDE’s compare with the thousands or NDE’s shared by John Burke and other researchers like him?
I appreciate your sharing, Dr. Leaf. All of it, including the details/complexities. 💗💜
What about when some people (comparatively few as far as I know) experience going into hell, then crying out and getting rescued?
Amazing and interesting! I especially found you pointing out the consistencies across time and cultures to be a strong point.
Glad you’re doing well and also when you said things like “I won’t go into too much detail” or “I’m gonna stop here because I could go on for 400 hours” 😂, I kept finding myself saying “Aw, I want to hear the details!” or “Give me the 400 hours! I’ll watch in installments!” haha. I would stay for a long-winded version because it was very informative and interesting. 👏
You do have to accept Jesus as your savior. Otherwise we will experience eternal separation from God. Not everyone will go to heaven and have peace.
I'm curious whether you still believe in Jesus and the teachings of the Bible? You launched your career on that and many of us learnt so much from you but you seem to deny your faith now. Genuinely curious. Not judging you. ❤️
It's such a shame that the church put so much fear on people about hell. Keeping many people trapped in the ignorance of religion preventing them from steeping into real freedom which is found in knowledge and in the knowledge of God's word, and learn from the many resources that God had gave us through science to show us a clearer path.😮
I’ve had one as well. Oh how glorious it is what awaits the children of the Lord. He invites EVERYONE! His love is sure. I’ve watched you for years and adore you. The Lord bless and keep you 🙏❤️
Thank you so much for sharing ❤❤❤
I find myself humbled by Dr Leafs way of holding vulnerability as a mother… shes the expert and yet in this collaboration (my next sentence maybe a projection) I seem to sense some tethering from her side… tethering to allow flow… sending love and care towards her and them as mom and daughter collaborating
Very informative and thought provoking. Thank you so much Dr Leaf…
Brilliant interview. One confirmation about what Dr Leaf said is when you sleep you can also have these out of body experiences, which started as a dream but after that experience I realised it was an out of body experience, it was very much connected to the Spirit world and I could find a lot of answers after this experience in the Word.
Thank you for sharing this Dr L very encouraging; currently reading “Think, Learn, Succeed”- you write so well and clearly. Blessings this week to you and your family.
Jana, Colleyville
It's a bit distracting having pornographic images behind Dominique while she's talking.
I love you Dr Caroline Leaf. ❤❤❤ Thank you for all of your care.
Thank God you came back. ❤💓
I truly love and respect you. Thank you for sharing such a personal intimate experience. 🕊💗🕊
Hello, I definitely agree with everything Dr Leaf has said also to confirmed what she has said there is a book by Betty Eadie called “Embraced by The Light” it signifies her NDE that is unforgettable once you read it. As always thanks for sharing.
What is the neurocycle app?
Long time fan of Dr Leaf from when she was still in SA. Glad to see you branching out into "new territories", what has changed in your views since you mentioned that you are spiritual not religious? Your NDE also did not show you Jesus or other Bible characters, would you say that has shifted your perspective?
I love when you go into detail. Please say as much as you are led to say
Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross researched 1000’s of NDE experiences and compiled common details from her research. The description your are relating is exactly what she found in many of her interviews and experiences with patients on hospice.
I wish you people would stop ✋️ calling it a near death experience its not death have you people not learned properly yet its not death no it is not it is called a awakening to your real consciousness your true self your real being there is no death when you awaken from your body when it shuts down you are your higher being of spirit realm existence seeing your true consciousness awareness for heaven sake there is no death you call it nde because you really do not understand it as you think you do no you dont if it was real for ending physical body death your soul would not enter back in to your body its that simple i know it true how it really is i have been having out of body travels since i was 6 years old for the past 60 years I still have them regularly but every time I have them iam not experiencing near death iam having natural out of body pleasures nothing to do with death wake up and accept it for what it really is it is natural out of body awakening yes it is?
Wow. Are you still religious? What impact has Nde and Obe had on your spiritual beliefs? More spiritual? Less dogmatic? Common among many Nders and Obers.
Spiritual not religious or dogmatic? Common among Nders and Obers!
There are well known Christian Nders. Like Betty Eadie. Howard Storm. Nancy Ryne. Mary Neal. Etc. Seeing Jesus as the Being of Light during the Life Review is apparently quite common. But the Being of Light can appear as God or Buddha or Krishna or Higher Self or Angel or Spirit Guide or be unidentified. Etc.
The first recorded case of an NDE was by Plato in his book The Republic, where he tells of the experience of General Er, who dies and returns and tells everyone what experiences he had whilst he was dead. The Gnostics, 2000 years ago, told us that when we die, the resurrection was an immediate spiritual event; the Church Fathers attacked them and branded them heretics. The Gnostics have been vindicated by the research we see being done today.
The most fascinating researcher in this area is Anthony Peake his written 12 books on the subject and he put together his own hypothesis called Cheating the Ferryman. He argues that we are all in a self-created phaneron, and when we die, we drop out of time to be born again and relive the same life with a twist over and over many times. This idea has been expressed by philosophers such as Nietzsche, Ouspensky et al.
According to Peake, a Deja vu is when you remember the last time you were here. If you got him on your show, it would make for fascinating viewing.
In 1984, I was in a motorcycle accident in Recife and was helped by a French couple. The last scene on Earth I remember was inside the hospital, with someone slapping my face to get me to say my phone number; after I said it, I blacked out. Immediately, I felt my body become light—very light—and experienced a sense of relief, but then I entered a dark tunnel with images on the left and right; on one side were the wrong things I had done, and on the other, the good things. Then I spotted a bright light at the end of the tunnel; there was a sort of reception area and a door, guarded by a VERY TALL sentry—a towering door. I felt thirsty and terrified, and, trembling and weeping, I ventured to speak: "I WANT TO GO BACK!" The sentry replied, "NO ONE COMES BACK FROM HERE!" He spoke with an arrogant voice, the voice of someone in command. I began to tremble and tried to explain that I had a son and that, if I returned, I wouldn't do anything wrong anymore; but, indifferent, he retorted, "NO ONE COMES BACK FROM HERE!" It was a feeling of utter despair—there was nothing I could do, and it seemed that if I passed through that door, I was done for; I sensed nothing good awaiting me. Then, at the height of my despair, I remembered—and I believe the Holy Spirit brought this to mind—that as a teenager, I had tried to attend church but lacked the strength to persevere, as the world held a strong attraction for me and I was very young. However, before I stopped going to church, I had held onto a Bible verse: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live'" (John 11:25). So, I said to the sentry: "BUT WAIT A MINUTE!" When I was a boy and read that Jesus Christ GUARANTEED that even if I died… I hadn't finished saying what I was going to say when, at that moment, a VOICE—like thunder—said: "YOU MAY GO BACK!" I felt instant relief, while the sentry stammered: "BUT NO ONE COMES BACK FROM HERE!" The VOICE didn't need to say another word! The sentry, very annoyed, told me: "IF YOU TELL ANYONE ABOUT THIS, I'LL BRING YOU BACK HERE AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO RETURN!" He was absolutely furious! Then, the moment I woke up, I was in an isolation ward at the hospital; it was freezing cold, and as I returned, the weight of my body and the pain came back—it hurt terribly! I let out a groan, and then I heard the nurse scream, "Oh, my God in heaven!" She immediately returned with a doctor, and I clearly heard him order them to cross out the death record and note the time of resuscitation. That’s when I learned what had happened in the motorcycle accident: I had suffered a head injury—my head was still open with clotted blood—and for a moment I thought I’d be paralyzed because I couldn't move one of my legs; I had broken my femur! As if the events already described weren't enough, a Frenchman suddenly walked in, accompanied by a French consul and a police officer. The Frenchman—who spoke Portuguese well—was ecstatic; he had come to my aid, but the police had detained him, thinking he was the one who had run me over. He said to me: "I came from France to study cases of people who have had near-death or death experiences. I helped you; I was here and saw you dead. The nurses and doctors told me you had died—I couldn't believe it—but I saw you, and you were dead, lifeless… I saw it! And now I see you speaking! Please, tell me what happened, because it will help my research immensely!" I remembered the threat the guard had made—warning me not to tell anyone—so I got scared and said: "I can't tell you!" He persisted and asked again: "But did something happen?" And I replied: "Yes, something happened!" He tried to press the issue, but I didn't say anything. That was when the consul asked if I could testify that Antoine (that was the Frenchman's name) hadn't run me over; I confirmed it immediately and said I remembered him helping me. I spent six months in a wheelchair, and eight years later—once I had fully recovered—I returned to the Hospital da Restauração in Recife to try to access my medical records, but the entire system had been digitized by then, and I was unable to access them. Today I know that I need not fear the threat posed by this sentinel and that Jesus Christ honored His Word: Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). I share this testimony of mine before God, adding nothing and taking nothing away. Believe it if you wish. This happened to me!!! May the Lord bless this channel.
Could you please explain why some people have hellish NDEs or negative , terrifying?
Life after death sounds stupid
To have an experience You need a brain But if you don't have a brain, you can't have an experience You are a neuroscientist, haven't you considered that?
the only logical answer is that conciousness does create experience and the body just mirrors that while we think our senses and the brain do produce it
the main counter argument is that besides eeg flatline the brain is still working and just captures Information from inside the physical body