Spiritual? That floating feeling could be your brain's way of trying to make sense of death.(dailymail.co.uk) |
Some report feeling as if they are hovering above their own bodies, while others find themselves drawn towards a blinding light. But out-of-body experiences are nothing more than a trick of the mind, scientists claim. They say that common spooky scenarios, such as floating above a hospital bed or walking towards the light at the end of a tunnel, can be explained by the brain trying to make sense of the process of death. Scientists from the universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge reviewed studies into changes in the brain that cause certain sensations associated with near-death experiences. Researcher Caroline Watt said one common vision – that of people seeing a bright light which seems to be drawing them into the afterlife – is probably produced by the death of the cells we use to process the light picked up by our eyes and turn it into pictures. ‘It is simply your brain trying to make sense of the unusual experiences you are having,’ Dr Watt said. Feelings of being out of the body can also be explained by the brain’s behaviour, the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences reports. ‘If you put on a virtual reality headset showing an image of yourself three feet in front, you can trick your brain into thinking that is you over there, and get the sense you are outside your body,’ Dr Watt added. ‘The scientific evidence suggests that all aspects of the near-death experience have a biological basis.’ In another example, the hormone noradrenaline, which is released when we suffer from stress and injuries, could be behind the feelings of love and peace many experience when they seem to be approaching death. However, other scientists say we should not be so quick to dismiss people’s accounts. Sam Parnia, of the University of Southampton, stressed that being able to trace something back to the brain does not mean it is not real. Dr Parnia, who is close to completing a three-year study of hospital patients’ recollections of their near-death experiences, said: ‘Every experience, whether near-death or otherwise – such as depression, happiness and love – is mediated by the brain. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
|
不少有過瀕死體驗(yàn)的人曾表示當(dāng)時(shí)感覺意識(shí)脫離軀體浮在上空,或被眩目的光芒吸引而去。但科學(xué)家表示,這種“靈魂出竅”的感覺只是大腦耍的小花招。 科學(xué)家證實(shí),常見的瀕臨死亡時(shí)的怪異情景,比如感到漂浮在醫(yī)院病床上,或走向隧道盡頭的亮光,都是大腦試圖厘清死亡過程時(shí)的反應(yīng)。 來(lái)自愛丁堡大學(xué)和劍橋大學(xué)的科學(xué)家對(duì)死前大腦的變化進(jìn)行了研究。這些變化導(dǎo)致了人們?cè)谂R死前會(huì)產(chǎn)生特定的感覺。 研究員卡羅琳?瓦特表示,人們?cè)跒l死時(shí)看到“指引其前往來(lái)生的”亮光的現(xiàn)象,可能是因?yàn)轶w內(nèi)用來(lái)處理光線的細(xì)胞死亡而產(chǎn)生的影像,我們的雙眼平時(shí)利用這些細(xì)胞接受光線,并轉(zhuǎn)化為圖像。 瓦特說(shuō):“這只是你的大腦正試圖弄懂你從未有過的經(jīng)歷。” 據(jù)《認(rèn)知科學(xué)趨勢(shì)》期刊報(bào)道,靈魂出竅的感覺可以用大腦行為來(lái)解釋。 瓦特博士補(bǔ)充說(shuō):“如果你戴上虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)的耳機(jī),讓其在你面前3英尺處呈現(xiàn)出你的影像,你就可以騙你的大腦認(rèn)為那就是你自己,從而產(chǎn)生‘靈魂出竅’的錯(cuò)覺?!?/p> “科學(xué)研究證實(shí),所有瀕死感覺都有生理學(xué)根據(jù)。” 另一項(xiàng)研究表明,瀕死時(shí)平和安詳?shù)母杏X是受去甲腎上腺素的影響。這一激素通常在人們經(jīng)歷重壓或受傷時(shí)釋放。 但也有科學(xué)家認(rèn)為,不應(yīng)該這么快就否定人們的描述。 南安普敦大學(xué)的薩姆?帕尼亞強(qiáng)調(diào)指出,將其追溯為大腦活動(dòng)并不代表人們的感覺就不真實(shí)。 帕尼亞博士說(shuō):“不管是不是瀕死,人們的沮喪、快樂、愛意等所有體驗(yàn)都是受大腦調(diào)節(jié)的?!彼磳⑼瓿梢豁?xiàng)有關(guān)病人瀕死感覺回憶的研究,該研究耗時(shí)三年。 相關(guān)閱讀 美國(guó)“拉皮條派對(duì)”進(jìn)軍英國(guó) 數(shù)千女子等候 近半英國(guó)人對(duì)伴侶不忠 出軌對(duì)象是名人或被原諒 英國(guó)城鎮(zhèn)上演“午夜熄燈” 不搞“照明工程” 英國(guó)獨(dú)自進(jìn)餐人數(shù)多 自?shī)首詷凡患拍?/a> (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯:陳丹妮) |
Vocabulary: spooky: 怪異的,幽靈般的 make sense of: 理解,弄懂 afterlife: 來(lái)生 |