New Study Reveals Brain Activity in Dying Patients May Explain Near-Death Experiences

People who are close to death often claim that they saw a light at the end of a tunnel, felt like they were floating on top of their bodies, or that they relived their lives before their eyes.

The intersection of these testimonies, and the fact that they come from people of diverse backgrounds and origins, suggests a possible biological mechanism that remains a mystery to scientists.

In an article published Monday in the Annals of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the American University of Michigan observed seizures in brain activity in two dying patients who were in a coma.

The study’s lead author, Jimo Borjegin, told AFP that this study is not the first of its kind, but it is “more detailed than ever before”.

Heart failure

The scientists studied the records of 4 patients who died of cardiac arrest at the moment when their brain activity was being measured by an electroencephalogram (EEG).

These people were in a coma and their doctors decided to stop treatment because they could not be saved.

When they were removed from life support, two patients (a 24-year-old woman and a 77-year-old woman) experienced an increase in heart rate.

Brain activity also showed a sudden rise in gamma waves associated with consciousness, a phenomenon that had been observed in previous studies.

The new study goes even further, as the researchers focused on a larger part of the brain that was stimulated, the posterior region associated with consciousness.

inflammation

“If this part of the brain is stimulated, it means that the patient sees something, can hear something, and is likely to feel sensations outside the body,” explained Jimo Borjegin, adding that this area was “inflamed.”

But scientists aren’t sure why the other two patients didn’t show these signs. According to Jimo Borjigin, their seizure history may have an impact in this regard.

The researchers cautioned that since the study was conducted on a very small sample, general conclusions cannot be drawn from it.

Because the patients are dead, it will never be known if they had visions or not.