What happens when we die? – New findings from scientists

There are many testimonies of people who came close to death and reported vivid memories, a sense of being outside their body, bright lights and more, but unfortunately scientists have never had data on what happens in the brain when someone dies. In a tragic turn of events, they were able to obtain for the first time continuous data on the dynamics of the neurons of a brain during the process of death.

When an 87-year-old patient had a seizure after surgery due to a fall, doctors used an electroencephalogram (EEG) to monitor his condition. Unfortunately the patient did not make it and died while connected to the machine. Combined with his desire not to try to resuscitate him if he died and with the consent of his family, scientists were able to record the electrical activity of the brain at death with great accuracy.

We recorded at least 900 seconds of brain activity at the time of death and focused on researching 30 seconds before and after cardiac arrest. There we saw changes in a specific group of nerve oscillations called gamma, but also in some others such as delta, theta, alpha and beta oscillations.

These oscillations are the collective electrical activity of neurons that function in the brain. Gamma in particular, is associated with memory retrieval, meditation and dreams.

Since the combined activity of gamma and alpha is associated with cognitive functions and the recall of memories in healthy people, it is interesting to assume that this activity may support the last account of life that takes place near death.

Unfortunately, there are no similar studies to compare the results, and the researchers note that the brain was injured, suffered from bleeding, swelling and seizures, while the patient had received large doses of drugs, which can affect the behavior of neurons.

Research challenges our understanding of when exactly life ends and raises important questions, such as when it comes to organ donation time. The data provide the first evidence from a human brain that dies in a non-experimental, real environment of intensive care and suggests that the human brain may be able to produce coordinated activity at the time of death.

The research was published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.

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