Scientists have been trying to understand what is happening in the brain at the time of death for centuries.
Recently, neuroscientists have first recorded a human brain activity, shortly before and after his cardiac arrest, providing important evidence of what one can experience in his last moments.
What happens to the human brain a few minutes before we die
The study was conducted when an 87 -year -old patient, hospitalized for epilepsy, suffered cardiac arrest while doctors monitored his neurological activity through electroencephalogram (EEG).
Scientists recorded the patient’s brain waves for 900 seconds, focusing particularly on 30 seconds before and after ceiling of cardiac function.
The data showed that areas of the brain associated with memory recall remained active. This suggests that, shortly before death, the brain can “play” a review of life, as described by people who have survived experiences near death. Scientists have noticed an increase in gamma brain waves related to memories, as well as other waves involved in consciousness processes.
“So maybe let us have a repetition of life in the last seconds when we die. On the spiritual side, I think it’s a bit sedative. I do this from time to time when you have dying patients and talk to their families- you have to be the bearer of bad news. At the moment, we know nothing about what’s going on in their beloved person’s brain when he dies. I think if we know that something is happening in their brains, that they remember beautiful moments, we can say it to these families and create a feeling of warmth that at the time they fall, it can help a little to catch them. Scientists are still not sure how and why the phenomenon of life review happens, but they have some theories, ”says Dr. Ajmal Zemmar of the University of Louisville in Kentucky.
The research team assumed that the brain may be scheduled to facilitate the transition to death, instead of stopping its operation abruptly. Although they do not know the exact mechanism behind this phenomenon, they consider it to be due to either the lack of oxygen, which causes increased brain activity, or to the function of tonsils, which stores intense emotional memories and is activated in states of anxiety or danger.
These findings raise new questions about the exact time considered to be death and how it affects medical practices, such as organ donation. However, scientists point out that this is only one case and more research is needed to draw definitive conclusions.
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