ABSTRACT
Studies of near-death experiences (NDEs) and of death-associated experiences are becoming almost mainstream nowadays and there's a large, ever-growing literature on them. There's an almost equally large literature detailing attempts to explain NDEs in terms of contemporary neuroscience, neural 'emergentist' views of the nature of consciousness, or even as cultural constructs. Attempted neuroscience explanations in terms of oxygen deprivation, endorphin release, temporal lobe micro-seizures or whatever all have their problems. There is overlap between NDE symptomatology and that of some psychedelic drug trips, and there is a theoretical possibility that a potent endogenous psychedelic (DMT) might accumulate in traumatised brains; equally endorphin release might theoretically account for some of the feelings of peace and so forth reported during NDEs. Memories were envisaged as 'valleys' in mental landscapes, which was a way of picturing the 'attractors' manifesting in the extraordinarily complex dynamics of mind. The existence of the attractors themselves depends on factors that bias dynamical behaviour.
