Near-Death Experiences, Phenomenology, and their Neural Correlates
Willoughby Britton, Ph.D.

Thursday, February 7th at 8:15pm
369 Congress Street
7th Floor
Boston, Mass
T accessible, 10 minute walk from South Station
Contact wagner@flammablesolid.org for additional information.

This lecture is intended to give an empirical overview of the most common phenomenological elements of near death experiences and their after-effects, reviewing recent scientific investigations of the phenomenon.

It will also look more broadly at studies which have examined the neurobiological correlates of religious experience generally, ranging across a variety of topics of interest, including altered states of consciousness; the science of sleep; contemplative and meditative states; shamanism; and the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

These and related subjects can be discussed at greater length during an informal question and answer period following the main presentation.

Willoughby Britton received a B.A. in Neuroscience from Colgate University, a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona, and completed her clinical residency at Brown Medical School. She has studied a wide range of altered states of consciousness including the healing practices of Tibetan shamans in India, Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan; the effects of cocaine, heroine and amphetamine at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA/NIH), and the neurophysiological correlates of sleep, meditation and religious experiences.

Her pioneering research on the neural and psychological correlates of near death experiences was published in Psychological Science and featured in the New York Times in 2004. She recently completed a three year clinical trial on the neurophysiological effects of mindfulness meditation, and has lectured internationally on both research topics.

Currently a researcher working at Brown Medical School's Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, she studies sleep, meditation and emotion regulation, and is also a member of the Brown University Contemplative Studies Steering Committee.