Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience (57 page)

HYPOTHALAMUS
:
Brain structure below the thalamus, which forms part of the limbic system and regulates blood pressure, respiration, emotions, and so forth.

HYPOTHERMIA
:
Cooling of the body’s temperature below normal.

HYPOXIA
:
Oxygen shortage.

ICD
:
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, implanted in patients with recurrent life-threatening arrhythmias who do not, or not sufficiently, respond to medication.

ILLUSION
:
An apparent reality, or a false sense of reality.

IMMATERIAL
:
Mental, incorporeal, spiritual.

IMMUNE SYSTEM
:
The body’s defense system, aimed at combating foreign intruders or cells that are changing inside the body.

INSTANTANEOUS
:
Immediate, that is, much faster than the speed of light.

INTERACTIONISM
:
The scientific study of all processes whereby individuals and groups interact with one another.

INTERFACE
:
Place of resonance.

INTERFERENCE
:
Phenomenon whereby overlapping coherent waves create a specific pattern.

INTUITION
:
The experience of verifiably correct information about events or people or about future events that could not have been perceived via the senses or obtained from memory. It is a manifestation of nonlocal consciousness, a form of direct knowledge that has no rational basis. It is coupled with a sense of inner certainty and familiarity. It can consist of telepathy, clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience (see separate entries), or prognostic dreams.

INTUITIVE, REMOTE VIEWING
:
Also known as nonlocal perception. It refers to people’s ability to perceive remotely (nonlocally) objects that are either selected at random or merely indicated by coordinates on a map. A form of clairvoyance (see separate entry).

ISOTOPE ANALYSIS
:
The imaging of organs or blood vessels through the injection of minute quantities of a radioactive substance.

JUNK DNA
:
Nonprotein encoding DNA, or intron; its function remains unknown.

LIMBIC SYSTEM
:
Part of the brain that encompasses the hippocampus, hypothalamus, and amygdala; it plays a role in emotions and memories.

LOCALITY
:
Concept that objects are influenced only by direct (local) contact. The concept excludes any remote influence.

LSD
:
Psychoactive substance, not found in nature, that causes an experience of consciousness bearing some resemblance to an NDE.

LUCID DREAM
:
A dream in which the dreamer is aware of the fact that he or she is dreaming.

LUMINESCENCE
:
The radiation that sometimes follows a change in atomic energy level. It occurs when energy-rich electrons leap into a less energy-rich orbit around the atom’s nucleus. The electron emits the released energy as a photon (electromagnetic radiation). If enough energy is released, the radiation emitted can be within the wavelength visible to man.

MATERIALISM
:
The philosophy that reduces all reality to matter.

MBCT
:
Mindfulness based cognitive therapy; this combination of cognitive therapy and meditation with mindfulness has produced clear clinical improvement of certain syndromes or disorders.

MEASURING PROBLEM
:
See quantum measuring problem.

MEDITATION
:
The practice of concentrated, silent, and inner attention or concentration on an object.

MEG
:
Magnetoencephalogram; the registration of the brain’s magnetic activity.

MEMBRANE POTENTIAL
:
The electric charge or voltage difference across a cell membrane.

METAPHYSICS
:
The school of philosophy that does not study material reality as we perceive it through the senses but instead studies reality that transcends matter.

MITOCHONDRIA
:
The cell’s power stations.

MORPHOGENETIC FIELDS
:
Fields with formative information.

MORTUARY
:
A place where the body of a deceased person can be stored for a few days until the funeral or cremation takes place.

MRI
:
See fMRI.

NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE OR NDE
:
A special state of consciousness arising during an imminent or actual period of physical, psychological, or emotional death.

NEUROPLASTICITY
:
A constant process of adaptation in the cerebral cortex caused by the fact that our mental, intellectual, and physical activities influence both the number and the location of the connections (synapses) between neurons.

NEUROTRANSMITTERS
:
Chemical substances in the brain that transmit and regulate electrical signals between neurons (brain cells).

NEUTRON
:
A subatomic particle without electrical charge, found in atomic nuclei.

NONLINEAR
:
Not occurring according to linear principles. A nonlinear, hyperbolic reaction is specific for a quantum process.

NONLOCAL CONNECTION
:
Quantum phenomenon whereby spatially separated particles possess properties that are connected beyond time and place; also known as entanglement.

NONLOCAL PERTURBATION
:
See telekinesis.

NONLOCAL SPACE
:
A space where time and place play no role, where everything is instantaneously and continuously connected. The nonlocal space represents a hidden reality that exerts a constant influence on our material world.

NONPERIODIC
:
Unpredictable. Quantum-mechanical processes in living matter are nonperiodic. See also nonstatistical.

NONSTATISTICAL
:
Unpredictable or chaotic quantum-mechanical processes originating in the nonlocal space for living organisms. See also nonperiodic.

OBJECTIVITY
:
Independent of people’s opinions; sometimes used to imply neutrality or impartiality. The opposite of subjectivity.

PALLIATIVE
:
Palliative care is aimed at alleviating or easing pain, especially when recovery is not or no longer possible.

PANPSYCHISM
:
Also known as idealism: according to this model, all material, physical systems contain a form of subjective consciousness at an elementary or fundamental level.

PARADIGM
:
A philosophical principle, framework, or view with a set of rules and regulations.

PARANORMAL
:
Phenomena that cannot be explained with our “normal” physical laws and prevailing concepts.

PARASYMPATHIC
:
The parasympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomous nervous system and influences the internal organs; it is most active when the body is at rest, when it stimulates metabolism, cell generation, and the buildup of our body’s reserves.

PARKINSON’S DISEASE
:
A neurological disorder caused by the loss of brain cells that secrete the substance dopamine, which is necessary for motor control.

PERIMORTEM EXPERIENCE
:
The sensation of somebody’s presence at a moment when it is not yet known that he or she has died.

PERIODICITY
:
Recurring at regular intervals. Processes in dead matter are periodic.

PERMISSION
:
Consent.

PET-SCAN
:
Positron emission tomography; a brain imaging technique using radioactive isotopes.

PHARMACOLOGY
:
The study of drug action.

PHASE SPEED
:
The speed at which a wave propagates. The phase speed increases in proportion to the wavelength.

PHENOMENAL
:
Based on subjective perception in the mind.

PHENOMENON
:
Observable occurrence.

PHOBIA
:
A mental disorder whereby people, usually for unknown reasons, develop a pathological fear of specific things or situations.

PHOTON
:
Particle, carrier of electromagnetic force: a “bundle” of light.

PHYSIOLOGY
:
The study of the normal vital functions and phenomena related to humans, animals, and plants.

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

PLACEBO EFFECT
:
The self-healing effect brought about by somebody’s beliefs and expectations, with demonstrable effect in brain research, among other fields.

POSTHUMOUS
:
After life; when somebody has died.

POSTMORTEM
:
After death.

POSTMORTEM EXPERIENCE
:
The sensation of contact with (the consciousness of) a deceased loved one in the weeks, months, or years after his or her death.

PROBABILITY WAVE
:
In quantum mechanics, a wave indicating the probability with which a particle will be found in a particular location. Also known as wave function.

PROSPECTIVE STUDY
:
This kind of study approaches all consecutive patients with a predefined diagnosis and therefore has much greater scientific value than a retrospective study.

PROTONS
:
A subatomic particle with a positive electric charge. A proton’s charge is equal, though opposite, to the electron’s charge.

PSYCHOKINESIS
:
See telekinesis.

QUANTUM MEASURING PROBLEM
:
The problem posed by the fact that the countless possibilities implied in a probability wave are lost as soon as a result is measured. Without perception, a quantum object has no definitive location in time and space, nor any of the fixed properties that classical physics tends to ascribe to objects.