Brain's Final Moments Before Death Recorded for the First Time, What Happens During This State?

In a new neurological study, a person's final moments were imaged for the first time. The findings were coincidental, as the events simply occurred during a brain scan for epilepsy treatment.

Brain Scan Reveals How Brain Waves React Upon Death

(Photo : Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience)
Figure 1. (A,B) Axial and coronal non-contrast CT scans demonstrating bilateral acute subdural hematoma with a larger mass effect on the left side (maximum thickness 1.5 cm). (C,D) The same scan sequences after decompressive craniotomy demonstrating evacuation of the left subdural hematoma.

The brain imaging was collected from an 87 years old subject that was being treated for epilepsy. The observation was collected while the patient is under electroencephalogram (EEG) imaging.

The man's brain activity was measured during the EEG scan when he had an unexpected heart attack and died on the spot. The whole 15 minutes of the man's brain activities prior to his death was recorded through the scanning device.

In the last 30 seconds of the patient's life, experts detected an unusual increase of waves across the organ known as gamma oscillations. These are linked to every brain region responsible for neurological activities such as memory retrieval, meditation, and even dreaming.

Due to the evident abnormality observed from the gamma oscillations, it could be possible that there is some sort of fast memory recollection for a dying person to review their lifetime before passing away. Previous studies have suggested the same theory, but the lack of evidence makes the speculation unconfirmed.

Another possible scenario during these last few moments of life is the dying person entering a state similar to when a living person dreams. The response might have been processed in the brain as deep meditation.

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Brain Waves of a Dying Person Could Be Retrieving Best Memories of Lifetime

It can be assumed that, upon the final moments, the brain exerts its remaining force to work for the last task it is supposed to relay for the individual.

University of Louisville School of Medicine expert and lead author of the study Ajmal Zemmar said in The Sun report that the oscillation wave generation occurred in the memory recollection wherein the brain could have put its last energy to retrieve the best and important life events it could get prior to our death.

The scenario is somewhat comparable to what was reported in numerous near-death cases in the past, he continued.

Zemmar explained that their findings challenge our knowledge regarding the mysteries when life ends and raise the corresponding question for related subjects, such as the timing of procedures in organ donation.

The initial analysis of gamma oscillations was first observed in rat subjects, but never in humans. According to the authors, their study serves as the first evidence of a human's brain state upon death under a non-experimental, real-life clinical setting.

The research advocates that our brains may have the capacity to generate a coordinated activity throughout the near-death period, the authors added. Even though the study involved just a single case of a brain inflicted through epilepsy, the findings are sufficient to pave the way for upcoming analysis over what happens during death.

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, titled "Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain."