Sina Science and Technology News, February 24, Beijing time, according to foreign media reports, neuroscientists recorded the brain activity of dying people and found that the rhythm of brain waves at the time of death was very similar to that of dreams, memories and meditation. However, a study recently published in the journal Frontier of Aging Neuroscience provides new clues to the role of the brain in death, and provides an explanation for the "riding light of life" seen in near death experience.
Imagine compressing your life into just a few seconds. As if in a flash, you suddenly left your body and watched those unforgettable memories flash past your eyes. A similar experience occurs when you experience near death. But what happens in your brain in the process of dying and after death? This problem has puzzled neuroscientists for hundreds of years. However, a new research published recently points out that your brain may still remain active when you are dying, even after death, and even act as the "coordinator" and "commander" of death.
The researchers carried out continuous EEG monitoring on an 87 year old patient after seizures, in order to monitor the incidence and give treatment. However, during the recording process, the patient died of heart attack. This accident allowed scientists to record the brain activity at the time of dying for the first time.
Brain activity within 900 seconds before and after death was recorded, especially 30 seconds before and after cardiac arrest. At the moment when the heart was about to stop beating and just stopped beating, we found that γ, δ, θ, α and β bands of brain waves had changed.
Brain oscillation (generally called "brain wave") refers to the rhythmic brain activity in the living brain. Different types of oscillations are associated with various advanced cognitive functions, such as concentration, dreaming, meditation, memory retrieval, information processing, consciousness perception, etc.
Source of hope
When we are dying, the brain may be able to evoke our memories of important events in our lives by generating oscillations related to memory retrieval, as described by those who experience near death. This discovery doubtless questioned the "end of life time as previously understood".
Although this research is the first time to monitor the brain activity of human dying, previous researchers have also observed similar changes in gamma waves in mice in a controlled environment. This indicates that in the process of death, brain tissue and biological reactions may be common in different species.
However, the monitoring results are only based on individual cases, and the patient suffered from physical injury, epilepsy and swelling during his lifetime, which adds difficulty to the interpretation of data. However, researchers are planning to analyze more cases, and the results of this study are like a "source of hope".
For doctors, it is extremely difficult to tell the news of the patient's death to the distressed family members. From this study, we can learn that although our loved ones have closed their eyes and are ready to leave us to rest, their brains may still be replaying the best time of their lives. (Leaf)
