A groundbreaking study led by NYU Grossman School of Medicine has found that some patients who have been revived after cardiac arrest reported clear memories of experiencing death.
These patients also showed brain activity linked to thought and memory while unconscious.
Published in the journal Resuscitation, the research opens doors to understanding what happens when a person dies and may have implications for resuscitation methods and organ transplantation.
Conducted in collaboration with 25 mostly U.S. and British hospitals, the study followed 567 men and women who suffered cardiac arrest in hospitals between May 2017 and March 2020.
Of these, fewer than 10% recovered sufficiently to be discharged. However, four in 10 of those who survived remembered some form of consciousness during the cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) that was not detectable by standard medical measures.
Brain Monitoring
The researchers monitored the brain activity of a subset of 85 patients during CPR. Almost 40% of these patients showed a return to normal, or near-normal, brain activity from a “flatline” state, sometimes up to an hour into CPR.
Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings identified spikes in gamma, delta, theta, alpha, and beta waves, which are associated with higher mental functions.
Conscious Experiences
Patients reported experiences such as heightened awareness, a perception of separation from their bodies, and painless observations of events.
Unlike hallucinations or dreams, these experiences seemed to be different and more lucid.
The researchers suggest that the dying brain may remove natural inhibitory systems, a phenomenon known as “disinhibition,” potentially granting access to “new dimensions of reality,” including a recollection of all stored memories.
Significance and Future Implications
Senior study author Sam Parnia, MD, Ph.D., remarked that these findings provide a glimpse into a poorly understood dimension of human consciousness uncovered with death.
He added that the research could guide the design of new resuscitation techniques and prevent brain injuries.
The findings could have a substantial impact on how we understand consciousness, life after cardiac arrest, and even the phenomenon of near-death experiences.
The researchers plan to conduct further studies that more precisely define biomarkers of clinical consciousness and monitor the long-term psychological effects of resuscitation.
Conclusion
The study has not proven or disproven the reality or meaning of these experiences but suggests that they deserve further scientific exploration.
It challenges previous medical assumptions about brain activity during cardiac arrest and opens up new avenues for understanding human consciousness and the experience of death.
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The research findings can be found in Resuscitation.
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