An international study published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience recorded for the first time ever evidence of brain activity in the moments before and after the passage from life to death of a patient. Similar results had previously been seen in mice, but never in humans.
The 87-year-old epileptic patient underwent continuous electroencephalography to record any seizures when he suddenly died of a heart attack. The doctors were thus able to record brain activity before and after his death, focusing in particular on the 30 seconds between death, before and after heart attack. During that time, one was measured increasing activity of the so-called gamma oscillationswhich come into play when the brain is processing memories.
After suppression of bilateral hemispheric responses, an increase in absolute power in gamma activity in narrow and wide bands and a decrease in theta power were observed.
All potencies were reduced – delta, beta, alpha and gamma, but less for the latter which continued to manifest even when the flow of blood ceased to reach the patient’s brain.
Our data provide the first evidence that the human brain may possess the ability to generate coordinated activity during the near-death period.
“I have seen my life pass by“, often tell people who risked dying, or after waking up from a coma. And this can therefore correspond to reality, because the results of this (single) study show how the human being, on the verge of death and immediately after death, activates a process of quick review of his life remembering the strongest and most important moments. The gamma oscillations that were recorded in those 30 seconds near death are the same ones that occur when we dream or meditate.
And not only does our brain recall the strongest memories before death: even after the heart has stopped beating, some form of coordinated activity has still been found to persist. It is the first time that this has been recorded on humans, however other studies will be needed to confirm its veracity.
The study is available in the link in SOURCE.
