from 15 hospitals in the United Kingdom, United States and Austria was launched. The AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study examined the broad range of mental experiences in relation to death. In a large study, researchers also tested the validity of conscious experiences for the first time using objective markers, to determine whether claims of awareness compatible with out-of-body experiences correspond with real or hallucinatory events. The results revealed that 40% of those who survived a cardiac arrest were aware during the time that they were clinically dead and before their hearts were restarted. One patient also had a verified out-of-body experience (over 80% of patients did not survive their cardiac arrest or were too sick to be interviewed), but his cardiac arrest occurred in a room without markers. Dr. Parnia in the interview stated, "The evidence thus far suggests that in the first few minutes after death, consciousness is not annihilated." The AWARE study drew the following primary conclusions: In some cases of cardiac arrest, memories of visual awareness compatible with so called out-of-body experiences may correspond with actual events. A number of NDErs may have vivid death experiences, but do not recall them due to the effects of brain injury or sedative drugs on memory circuits. The recalled experience surrounding death merits a genuine investigation without prejudice. Studies have also been done on the widely reported phenomenon of Near Death Experiences. Experiencers commonly report being transported to a different "realm" or "plane of existence" and they have been shown to display a lasting positive aftereffect on most experiencers. See also Allegory of the long spoons Astral Plane Bardo Brig of Dread (Bridge of Dread) Empiricism Epistemology Eternal oblivion Exaltation (Mormonism) Fate of the unlearned Heaven Rebecca Hensler Hell Immortality Mictlan Mind uploading Nirvana Omega Point Paradise Phowa Pre-existence Purgatory Rebirth Reincarnation Soul Soul flight Soul retrieval Spiritism Suspended animation Spirit World Undead Underworld References Explanatory notes Citations Bibliography Philip C Almond, Afterlife: A History of Life after Death, London and Ithaca NY: I.B. Tauris and Cornell University Press, 2015. Campbell, Douglas R. "Plato's Theory of Reincarnation: Eschatology and Natural Philosophy," Review of Metaphysics 75 (4): 643–665. 2022. Dan Cohn-Sherbok and Christopher Lewis, (eds.), Beyond Death: Theological and Philosophical Reflections on Life after Death, Pelgrave-MacMillan, 1995. David Fontana, Is there an afterlife: a comprehensive overview of the evidence, O Books 2005. Jane Idelman Smith and Yazbeck Haddad, The Islamic Understanding