The truth is, no one has a definitive answer to the question “What happens when we die.” And yet those who have technically “died” and come back have reported experiences that have been discounted by some in the medical community and studied by others. Dr. Bruce Greyson, a specialist in psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia—and one of the world’s leading experts on near-death experiences—has been looking at these strange phenomena for more than four decades. He spoke to Newsweek about his work and how an NDE changes the people who have had this experience.

The When You Die team is committed to bringing death back into our everyday conversations as an integral part of our human journey.