Life may actually flash before your eyes on death – new study
New data from a scientific “accident” has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die.
A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack – offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain.
It revealed that in the 30 seconds before and after, the man’s brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.
Brain activity of this sort could suggest that a final “recall of life” may occur in a person’s last moments, the team wrote in their study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience on Tuesday.
Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, said that what the team, then based in Vancouver, Canada, accidentally got, was the first-ever recording of a dying brain.
He told the BBC: “This was actually totally by chance, we did not plan to do this experiment or record these signals.”
So will we get a glimpse back at time with loved ones and other happy memories? Dr Zemmar said it was impossible to tell.
“If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things,” he said.
“But what’s memorable would be different for every person.”
Dr Zemmar, now a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, said in the 30 seconds before the patient’s heart stopped supplying blood to the brain, his brainwaves followed the same patterns as when we carry out high-cognitive demanding tasks, like concentrating, dreaming or recalling memories.
It continued 30 seconds after the patient’s heart stopped beating – the point at which a patient is typically declared dead.
“This could possibly be a last recall of memories that we’ve experienced in life, and they replay through our brain in the last seconds before we die.”
The study also raises questions about when, exactly, life ends – when the heart stops beating, or the brain stops functioning.
Dr Zemmar and his team have cautioned that broad conclusions can’t be drawn from a study of one. The fact that the patient was epileptic, with a bleeding and swollen brain, complicates things further.
“I never felt comfortable to report one case,” Dr Zemmar said. And for years after the initial recording in 2016, he looked for similar cases to help strengthen the analysis but was unsuccessful.
But a 2013 study – carried out on healthy rats – may offer a clue.
In that analysis, US researchers reported high levels of brainwaves at the point of the death until 30 seconds after the rats’ hearts stopped beating – just like the findings found in Dr Zemmar’s epileptic patient.
The similarities between studies are “astonishing”, Dr Zemmar said.
They now hope the publication of this one human case may open the door to other studies on the final moments of life.
“I think there’s something mystical and spiritual about this whole near-death experience,” Dr Zemmar said. “And findings like this – it’s a moment that scientists lives for.”
See more here: bbc.co.uk
Header image: Getty Images
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Howdy
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The precious bbc… Well they live in cloud cuckoo land anyway…
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Gary Ashe
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I was in theatre having stents put in my blocked arteries to my legs, keyhole surgery and you are awake and can see what they are doing on screen.
Long story short after around 4 hours in surgery they started finishing up, and as the equipment came out of me i crashed and all hell broke loose as the rash team jumped into action, trollies were shoved aside banging into each other etc etc .. cold wipes were applied to my should then a sharp pain as the injections went in x3 altogether and above all the noise i could hear the anesthetist calling out the numbers none stop 32 34 33 37 34 35 and after each injection 39 38 43 41 46 39 45 47 etc etc next injection 44 49 51 53 55 57 53 59 etc etc until in the 70s 73 72 75 and then the surgeon who by this time was on top of me on the table knees either side of me pressing down on the holes that the equipment ame out of, he says ”he is back weve got him”.
Now at the start when i crashed and the commotion started i was acutely aware of my surroundings and scared shitless, but as time passed and i was in total concentration on their voices and their stress levels and as they calmed i calmed, but at no point could i move or open my eyes, even tho i have never been more awake in my life.
The count wasn’t my heart beat it was my blood pressure, and it took quite awhile before i could open my eyes in the recovery room or talk.
But during it all i had no doubt i was dying and was just going to fade out like going to sleep, thats what it is like to knock on heavens door, you just fade out like a signal, truly you just fade out and as you do so feel no fear just acceptance thats it your going to die its over, its hard to explain really i hope you can understand, your brain doesnt stop even tho your body has or is just about too, your brain which is you just fades out.
No tunnel no bright lights no life flashing before your eyes etc just a serene calmness and total acceptance because it all happens so quick, yet you fade out slowly and calmly, i don’t know how to explain it any better.
And i told this to the surgeon when i opened my eyes and he was sat beside me in recovery, and his reply. ”you gave me quite a scare there Mr Ashe”.
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Scoobyvegan
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I didn’t even bother to read this article. This happens. It happened to me. Even while it was happening, I distinctly recall thinking, “oh no, this must be bad… my life has/is flashing before me.” Oddly, in my case, it was not just flashed, but roughtly assessed, as in, “while it has been a pretty good one.” This took only seconds, maybe two-three. Fortunately, I lived, to my surprise. I’ve never forgotten the event and I have minor scaring to remind me, any time I wish to remember how lucky I am, and that God had further plans for me
Two-man, self-bailing, fiberglass surf racing dory vs. +20′ rogue “outsider” wave, Oceanside California circa 1981. We broke the boat almost in half.
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