In Western medicine, the condition known as epilepsy is often accompanied by exceptional physical and mental states which have been studied in great detail. Similarly, there is wealth of observations of patients suffering from coma, for example due to insulin deprivation. These observations are a relevant complement to the discussion of near-death and death.
Jerome Engel Jr. (USA, 1938) received his M.D. in 1965 and his Ph.D. in Physiology in 1966, both from Stanford University. He is Professor of Neurology, Anatomy and Cell Biology at the UCLA Medical School and a member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute. He has been active in a number of professional societies, including President of the American Epilepsy Society and the American EEG Society, as well as the editor of several professional journals such as Advances in the Neurobiology of Epilepsy, and Journal of Clinical Neurophysiology. He is editor of several volumes on epilepsy and clinical neuroscience, and recently authored Seizures and Epilepsy (Davis, 1989). Dr. Engel has contributed over 125 papers in professional journals such as Epilepsy Research, Journal of Neurosurgery, Neurology, Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, and Annals of Neurology.
