The world’s first recording of a human brain at the moment of death showed that he was dreaming
Scientists from the University of Louisville (USA) for the first time managed to record the work of the human brain at the time of death. The study showed the presence of brain waves that are characteristic of dreams and memories. At the same time, the study was not initially even aimed at tracking the process of death — the case determined a lot. Neurophysiologists observed the brain activity of an 87-year-old patient with epilepsy through an EEG and monitored the exacerbations of his ailment. That’s just in the process of treatment, he had a heart attack and died.
Scientists have recorded the last 15 minutes of the brain’s life. They focused on 30 seconds before and after cases of cardiac arrest and noted an increase in the so-called gamma oscillations, which are usually present during sleep, in the processes of memories and trance states. And this gives a better understanding of what people are experiencing in the last seconds of passing away.
By means of gamma oscillations, the brain immediately before death evokes memories of vivid events of a past life, and this is consistent with what survivors usually tell about their near-death experience. The most interesting thing is that this study makes us take a fresh look at how and when exactly our life ends, and also raises important questions about the expiration dates of donor organs.
As it turned out, the human brain is capable of well-coordinated work even after the blood flow to it is blocked. Similar observations of gamma waves in the process of death have previously been carried out in rats, but for the first time it was possible to detect them in humans. Of course, the conclusions of scientists are still very cautious: after all, the data were obtained from just one study with a person whose brain was already damaged and specifically active due to epilepsy. However, the results are of great interest, and scientists are going to continue observations in this direction. These studies were published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
