Scientists find bizarre pattern in 1,000 human reincarnation cases
Reincarnation is a hot-button topic, with more than 30% of Americans believing in the phenomenon. Despite the lack of scientific evidence, researchers keep asking questions, and they may have uncovered a striking pattern.
The concept is nothing new
Known in scientific research as Cases of the Reincarnation Type (CORT), it is especially common in children who report details and memories of somebody else's life.
The University of Virginia is home to the Division of Perceptual Studies, with a focus on collecting data on alleged cases of reincarnation. It has the largest database of this type of information, and now it may have uncovered a pattern.
Unexpected and quick death may play a role
Through collecting the data, researchers have found that if a person died unexpectedly, suddenly, and quickly, the "intermission time" was shorter than if the death took longer and wasn't unexpected.
The intermission time is the time between a person's death and the birth of a child who can then recall memories of the deceased.
"This is the largest systematic study to date of temporal patterns in reported past-life memories," said lead author and cognitive neuroscience researcher Saeedeh Sadeghi from the University of Virginia.
The findings have been published in Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice.
Patterns make it hard to look away
Across the more than 1,600 cases, the more unexpected the death was, the shorter the intermission time seemed to be.
"Investigators systematically evaluated evidence from multiple sources … to systematically explore conventional explanations of the child's statements as well as the possibility of anomalous ones," wrote the researchers.
Social psychologist Philip Cozzolino of the University of Virginia insisted that "the effect remained even after we accounted for several cultural and psychological factors, and it was actually stronger in families whose religions did not support reincarnation."
A pattern worth pursuing
While the data doesn't definitively prove reincarnation, this unexplained anomaly gives researchers plenty of reason to keep investigating.
Source: Science Alert, APA PsycNet, UVA Health
