Scientists at the University of Michigan published an interesting paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). In this paper, scientists detail how they detected unknown, mysterious waves of brain activity in the brains of dying people.
The activity was recorded as transient bursts of gamma activity similar to those seen in previous studies that recorded brain waves in dying people last year. The discovery reveals more information about how the human brain responds in tragic situations.
They recorded cryptic brain activity in four patients as they were taken off life support. They recorded her activity in 2 of her 4 patients. This could help scientists better understand the similarities between the dying human brain and the brains of previously studied animals such as rats.
These flickerings of activity as the brain dies are thought to be what we often call “near-death experiences.” This is what many believe happens before they die. Of course, proving the existence of such a mental his movie is not easy, but scientists are set to try.
And this new study of mysterious brain activity could be a step in the right direction, at least in understanding how the brain responds just before death. examined how brain activity changed before and after taking patients off life support.
So far, however, this activity is not necessarily evidence of increased patient conscious processing. Yes, it seems to suggest so, but it doesn’t quite show it. Perhaps future research in the same area will yield additional results and information.
