Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (56 page)

14. B. van Schuijlenburg,
Waar was de patiënt? Omgang met mensen met een bijnadood-ervaring in de hulpverlening
[Where Was the Patient? Supporting People with a Near-Death Experience] (Assen, the Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1994).

AKASHA
:
The Sanskrit word for ether. According to ancient Indian philosophy, Akasha is the source of the entire universe; it contains information about everything that ever was, is, and will be.

ANESTHESIA
:
General anesthesia, causing a patient to lose consciousness.

ANEURYSM
:
A balloonlike bulge at a weakened spot in a blood vessel, not unlike a protruding bubble on the inside of a bicycle tire.

ANOXIA
:
Total loss of oxygen supply.

ANTIGEN
:
An antigen is a molecule capable of producing antibodies and triggering an immune response.

BLACK HOLE
:
A region in space where the gravitational field is so powerful that it absorbs everything in its vicinity, including light.

BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATE
:
A (quantum) physics system in which the many parts that form an organized system not only behave like a whole but actually become a whole.

BRAIN DEATH
:
Coma with indications of irreparable damage to the cerebral cortex and brain stem.

BRAIN STEM
:
The oldest part of the brain; it connects the cerebrum with the cerebellum and the spinal cord and governs vital functions such as heartbeat, respiration, and blood pressure.

CAUSALITY
:
Because time is unidirectional, the order of cause and effect is fixed.

CEREBRAL CORTEX
:
The largest part of the brain, spread across frontal lobe, temporal bone, parietal and occipital lobes, each with its specific functions.

CES
:
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation; see also TDCS.

CLAIRAUDIENCE
:
The sensation of knowing what somebody is thinking.

CLAIRSENTIENCE
:
The sensation of knowing what somebody is feeling.

CLAIRVOYANCE
:
The sensation of knowing what is happening at a great distance.

CLINICALLY DEAD
:
Unconsciousness caused by the loss of heartbeat and respiration. Unless patients are resuscitated within five to ten minutes, they will die.

COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS
:
The ability to understand, think, reason, and remember.

COHERENT
:
Two waves are coherent if they oscillate regularly and have a certain relationship that enables interference.

COMA
:
A state of deep unconsciousness, precipitated by a range of different disorders; also known as “apparent death.”

COMPLEMENTARITY
:
Light behaves like either a particle or a wave depending on the experiment design, but never like both at the same time.

COMPLEX
:
Composite and complicated.

CONCEPTION
:
Fertilization.

CONTINUITY
:
There is never any discontinuity; everything happens orderly in time and space.

CORNEAL REFLEX
:
The blinking of the eye at touch.

CORRELATION
:
Interrelation or connection.

CORTEX
:
See cerebral cortex.

DBS
:
Deep brain stimulation through the implanting of deep electrodes in hyperactive or underactive areas of the brain.

DEATHBED VISION
:
The experience of nonlocal consciousness during the terminal phase.

DECOHERENCE
:
The leaking of information in living quantum systems.

DEFIBRILLATION
:
The administration of an electric shock to the chest of a cardiac arrest patient during resuscitation (ventricular fibrillation).

DELUSION
:
An incorrect interpretation of a correct perception.

DENDRITES
:
The branched projections of neurons, which connect synapses with other neurons.

DEPERSONALIZATION
:
The phenomenon of identity loss, coupled with feelings of detachment, alienation, and a sense of unreality.

DIFFERENTIATION
:
The process of becoming more specific by developing more specialized functions or by transforming into a more heterogeneous and detailed state.

DISSOCIATION
:
The escape from the frightening reality of a trauma, or a disruption in identity, memory, or consciousness.

DMT
:
Dimethyltryptamine, a psychoactive substance produced by the pineal gland. It causes a state of mind that bears a striking resemblance to an NDE.

DNA
:
Deoxyribonucleic acid. The human DNA consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes and contains approximately 30,000 genes made up of more than 3 billion base pairs. About 5 percent of DNA encodes protein and is called exon.

DONOR PREVENTION
:
The prevention of brain death.

DUALISM
:
Based on the premise of two opposing or neighboring, irreducible basic principles.

ECG
:
Electrocardiogram; the registration of the heart’s electrical activity.

ECHO
:
Ultrasound analysis.

EDEMA
:
Swelling.

EEG
:
Electroencephalogram; the registration of the brain’s electrical activity.

ELECTRON
:
An elementary particle that forms part of an atom or moves freely in space. It carries a negative electric charge. The electron’s antiparticle is called a positron.

EMPATHY
:
The ability to imagine and sympathize with the feelings or thoughts of others.

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH
:
All research activities or experiments that draw on direct or indirect observations and that are not based on a predetermined theoretical foundation.

ENHANCED INTUITIVE SENSITIVITY
:
The experience of verifiably correct information about events or persons or about future events that could not have been perceived via the senses or obtained via memories. See also Intuition.

ENTANGLEMENT
:
See nonlocal entanglement.

EPIGENETICS
:
The study of reversible changes in gene function, brought about by external factors without causing changes in the DNA sequence in the cell nucleus.

EPILEPSY
:
An illness with attacks (insults, seizures, or convulsions) caused by brain disorders and sometimes coupled with unconsciousness.

EPIPHENOMENALISM
:
The view according to which all mental phenomena, processes, or states are mere side effects or by-products (epiphenomena) of cerebral processes.

EPIPHYSIS
:
The epiphysis or pineal gland is an endocrine gland in the brain. An endocrine gland produces hormones.

EPS
:
Electrophysiological study, in which arrhythmias are diagnosed and induced with the help of catheters in the heart.

EUTHANASIA
:
Literally: good death. The practice of deliberately ending another person’s life, at their request and according to strict guidelines. Active euthanasia involves the administration of, for example, a lethal injection, usually in a patient in the final stages of a malignant disease or AIDS, precipitating an accelerated and unnatural death.

EXISTENTIAL CRISIS
:
A crisis accompanied by feelings of anxiety, panic, and powerlessness.

FARADAY CAGE
:
An isolated cagelike construction of conductive material that blocks all electromagnetic radiation.

FIELD
:
A field is an immaterial and invisible area that extends throughout the whole of space and that is capable of exerting an influence on our visible, material world.

FMRI
:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging.

FOURIER TRANSFORM
:
This is used to transform a linear system (time) into wave functions or frequencies or vice versa.

GENE
:
A gene carries the information for a specific hereditary property in a cell.

GENOME
:
The genome of an organism comprises one complete set of chromosomes and describes the combination of all hereditary factors.

GLUON
:
An elementary particle that is responsible for transmitting a powerful nuclear force. The electrical charge of gluons equals 0, their spin equals 1.

HALLUCINATION
:
A sensory perception that is experienced as real by the hallucinating person but that does not correspond with reality.

HIPPOCAMPUS
:
Connecting brain structure, located inside the me-dial temporal lobe and belonging to the limbic system.

HOLISTIC SYSTEM
:
A system based on the premise that everything is connected to everything else, which is why a problem can never be examined or solved in isolation.

HOLOGRAM
:
A spatial three-dimensional image on a flat surface, which originates with the help of coherent laser light, giving rise to interference patterns. Each part contains the entire image.

HOSPICE
:
A home or unit in a hospital or nursing home that specializes in terminal care and where terminally ill patients can be cared for until their death.

HYPERBOLA
:
In geometry, a two-dimensional figure, a conic section, formed by the intersection of a cone by a plane, intersecting both halves of the cone. A nonlinear, hyperbolic reaction is specific for a quantum process.

HYPERESTHESIA
:
Hypersensitivity.

HYPNOSIS
:
An artificially created state of consciousness characterized by relaxation and concentration but without waking consciousness.

HYPOPHYSIS
:
The hypophysis, or the pituitary gland, is a gland in the middle of the head, below the brain, secreting hormones. The hypophysis fulfills an important role in hormone regulation.