Read the whole article.Brain Waves Surge Moments Before Death
by Irene Klotz, Discovery NewsBrain Surge | Discovery News VideoOct. 6, 2009 -- A study of seven terminally ill patients found identical surges in brain activity moments before death, providing what may be physiological evidence of "out of body" experiences reported by people who survive near-death ordeals.
Doctors at George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates recorded brain activity of people dying from critical illnesses, such as cancer or heart attacks.
Moments before death, the patients experienced a burst in brain wave activity, with the spikes occurring at the same time before death and at comparable intensity and duration.
Writing in the October issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine, the doctors theorize that the brain surges may be tied to widely reported near-death experiences which typically involve spiritual or religious attributes.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Brain Waves Surge Moments Before Death
My Facebook friend Ana Li posted this article this morning. Very interesting.
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4 comments:
Don't NDEs happen after the heart stops beating, though? I'm confused as to what they mean by "moments before death". If it's moments before the heart stops beating, then how can this effect be caused by a lack of oxygen?
good question - in neuroscience death is the point at which the brain ceases to function, which may be minutes after the heart stops (the medical measure of death)
Author's note: The doctors noticed the brain wave spike after life support was pulled. In my interviews I didn't directly ask what the "moment of death" was, i.e. was the heart still beating, etc. What was interesting was that all the people showed the same type of spike at the same interval before moment of death. Thanks for your interest. And to Mr. Harryman, appreciate you picking up the post, but to honor copyrights, you're only supposed to quote the first paragraph and a summary and then LINK to the story on the Discovery.com website. Thanks. Irene Klotz.
Yes, this IS interesting - and the basic assumption shines through, that death is indeed the end of a person, soul, being, whatever it is we are in non-material depth (if we are such).
Truth is, we don't know.
I think it is just as valid to suppose that it's something like the 'final' radio-burst; a signal that encompasses the life's experiences of a person and that can thus transfer onto whatever the next form in an ongoing journey is...
This is utter speculation, of course.
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