NDE has accompanied man from time immemorial. Even though an impressive amount of work has been done in the field of NDE explantion, many areas have remained unexplored. One of them is near-death experience produced by ketamine via NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor block in the brain. Conditions which precipitate NDE (hypoxia, ischaemia, hypoglycaemia etc.) have been defined as „energy blockers“. There is lack of ATP in the brain in conditions of hypoxia. Therefore interactions between neurotransmitters and receptors are not possible and all receptors (incl. NMDA receptors) are blocked. This suggest a pathophysiological explanation.

        Key words: ATP, cerebral hypoxia, energetic barrier, glutamate, ketamine, NMDA receptors, neardeath experience.