The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS), formerly the Division of Personality Studies, is a unit of the Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA. The Division of Perceptual Studies (DOPS) was founded as a research unit of the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at UVA by Dr. Ian Stevenson in 1967.
Utilizing scientific methods, the researchers within The Division of Perceptual Studies investigate apparent paranormal phenomena especially investigating cases of children who claim to remember past lives.
Children Who Claim to Remember Previous Lives
Some young children, usually between the ages of 2 and 5, speak about memories of a previous life they claim to have lived. At the same time they often show behaviors, such as phobias or preferences, that are unusual within the context of their particular family and cannot be explained by any current life events. These memories appear to be concordant with the child’s statements about a previous life. In many cases of this type, the child’s statements have been shown to correspond accurately to facts in the life and death of a deceased person. Some of the children have birthmarks and birth defects that correspond to wounds or other marks on the deceased person whose life is being remembered by the child. In numerous cases postmortem reports have confirmed these correspondences. Older children may retain these apparent memories, but generally they seem to fade around the age of 7 .
The research staff at the Division of Perceptual Studies has been investigating these cases since 1961 and have published numerous articles and books about them. There is also a list of books on reincarnation which includes one book about Dr. Stevenson’s work by Tom Shroder, editor at the Washington Post at the time of the publication of the book. This book is called “Old Souls” and was published in 1999 after Mr. Shroder spent a great deal of time observing Dr. Stevenson investigating cases in the field. The young subjects of these cases have been found all over the world including Europe and North America.
Visit the Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA
website.
