What Cannon described has since been termed "bone-pointing syndrome", wherein an individual receives some sort of shock—often the breaking of a social/religious taboo—that he interprets as an ill omen for himself; his physical condition then deteriorates at a rapid rate, and he dies within a period as short as 24 hours after the initial shock.
[2] Cannon discussed a Maori woman who learned that the fruit she had eaten came from a tapu (taboo) place; less than 24 hours later she was dead.
States Cannon: "The combination of lack of food and water, anxiety, very rapid pulse and respiration, associated with a shocking experience having persistent effects, would fit well with fatal conditions reported from primitive tribes.
The generally recognized sequence of events, as enumerated by Esther M. Sternberg, MD, in 2002, stands as follows: various chemicals and electrical impulses are released that are transmitted by nerve fibers.
Together these might well cause illness, including loss of appetite, weakness, cardiac arrhythmias, and even vascular collapse that could result in death.
"[3] Martin A. Samuels, MD, elaborates further on still another process of death, stating that with the release of adrenaline and an increased heart rate, sometimes catecholamines, stress hormones, will build up, leading to calcium channels opening and remaining open, resulting in an overflow of calcium into the system, killing off cells.
Richter interpreted this that the rats died as a result of over-stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system, specifically the vagus nerve which regulates heartbeat.
Hofer(1970) demonstrated that several rodent species when threatened exhibited an immobility that was accompanied by a very low heart rate.
Unlike the behavior of "hopelessness" described by Richter, the death-faking occurred with a sudden motor collapse during active struggling.
She wrote: "Pupillary constriction, easily observable and indicative of parasympathetic activation ... the amount of saliva, of perspiration, degree of muscle tonicity and skin pallor in an individual are also discernible without complicated instruments.
David Lester, PhD, in 1972, contends that Cannon's evidence, particularly the evidence concerning animals, is anecdotal and irrelevant, and instead sets forth the concept of "death by suggestion", and supports "giving up-given up" complex set forth by George L. Engel, thus attributing the cause of death entirely to the psychological state of the individual in question rather than a psychological–physiological connection adduced by Cannon.
[12] The advent of theories concerning voodoo death within the scientific field has also led to the development of a branch of psychology termed psychophysiology.
In his 1964 article, James L. Mathis, MD, describes a case of a previously healthy man who died from asthmatic attacks when his mother "cursed" him for going against her wishes.