For the first time in history, scientists managed to record brain activity at the time of human death, reports The Sun.
Conducting electroencephalography (EEG, a method of studying the electrical activity of the brain by placing electrodes in certain areas on the surface of the head) an 87-year-old patient with epilepsy, doctors recorded its death from a sudden heart attack.
Using EEG, they were able to trace changes in the brain work within 30 seconds before and after cardiac arrest.
The study revealed a significant growth of “gamma-social”, which are usually associated with memories and dreams.
Activating several parts of the brain during the study suggests that before death a person may enter into a calm state similar to sleep or meditation.
This can confirm a long -existing hypothesis that before death people can again experience certain events and fragments of their lives.
Surprisingly, while the body is disconnected, the brain can continue to work hard, making coordinated efforts to complete the last task, scientists say.
“Generating the fluctuations involved in the restoration of memory, the brain can reproduce the last memory of important life events immediately before our death, like those reported in near -death experiences,” explained Dr. Adzhmal Zemmar, neurosurgeon from the University of Louisville. P>
According to him, these results question the understanding of when exactly the life ends, and give rise to important subsequent issues, for example, related to the terms of the donation of organs.
Although such changes in the cerebral waves were previously noted in rats, this is the first similar study in public.
However, it is important to note that the results are based on a single case, and the patient’s brain was damaged by epilepsy. Therefore, scientists cannot confidently argue that this happens in all people before death.
The results of the study are published in the journal Frontiers in Anging Neuroscience.