Kashish Sharma
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Written By: Kashish Sharma | Updated : January 5, 2023 6:19 PM IST
Two different studies have captured brain activity in dying and near-dying experiences, showing that there is a need to know as much about death as we might know about life.
Death has been a mysterious subject for even healthcare providers and medical experts. Time and again, some scientific observations have fascinated scientists to study what happens to the body just before and after death. Two different studies have captured brain activity in dying and near-dying experiences, showing that there is a need to know as much about death as we might know about life.
One study was not intentional but unexpectedly recorded the brain activity of a dying man where 30 seconds before and after his death, his brainwaves followed a similar pattern that is seen in a dreaming brain or where one might be recalling certain memories. Another study showed that one in five people who survived cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiac arrest describe lucid experiences of death when they were on the verge of losing consciousness.
In 2016, some doctors accidentally recorded the brain activity of a dying man. The 87-year-old man while undergoing a brain scan for epilepsy had suffered cardiac arrest and eventually died. The brain networking captured just before and after his heart had stopped beating was very similar to those experienced when one might be recalling memories or dreaming. The study published in the Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience suggests that our brain might remain active and coordinated even before and after physical death. The study also observed that the brain waves generated during the event are usually involved in memory retrieval. This also suggests that the brain might be playing a last recall of important life events just before death. The waves recorded were those involved in high cognitive function. Though the findings couldn't be generalized because it was one specific case, the study findings matched with the results of similar experiments performed on rats.
Another study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School Of Medicine involved 567 men and women who suffered cardiac arrest while hospitalized and who received CPR between 2017 and 2020 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Fewer than 10 per cent recovered to be discharged from the hospital. The survivors reported having lucid consciousness such as out-of-body experiences and experts found these to be different from hallucinations, delusions or dreams. Similar high cognitive function-related brain waves were recorded up to an hour into CPR. Experts called this a unique conscious experience where there was awareness without distress.
As per an article published by a popular media outlet, death has a process. A person about to die might show some signs a week or two before passing away like sleeping for longer periods, eating or drinking less and becoming more or less immobile. However, the exact point of death is difficult to predict. Studies show that certain inflammatory markers might spike in people about to die indicating infection. Some hypothesis have suggested that a person might experience euphoria during dying. This is still a matter of research to identify what might cause this experience, is there an endorphin rush or surge in certain neurotransmitters.
