What happens after death? : 4 out of 10 people are conscious during resuscitation

The notion of near-death experiences has long fascinated people. The question what happens after death? remains an unsolved mystery. However, scientists have found that Some unconscious patients exhibit brain patterns that may be linked to near-death experiences (NDEs).

For a long time, people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) often report a series of unusual sensations and perceptions during the episode such as heightened brain awareness, powerful and lucid experiences, perception of separation from the body, observation of events without pain or distress, and meaningful evaluation of your actions and relationships.

However, These experiences are different from hallucinations, delusions, illusions, dreams or consciousness induced by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), said one new study published this month in the magazine Resuscitation and led by Sam Parnia, a critical care physician and associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Langone Health.

The researchers observed 567 patients from 25 different hospitals , while undergoing CPR after suffering cardiac arrest. This discovery was made by researchers at the Grossman School of Medicine at New York University.

Up to an hour after their heartbeat stopped, some patients resuscitated with CPR reportedly had clear memories of their death and brain patterns related to thinking and memory, while they were apparently unconscious and about to die.

Despite immediate treatment, less than 10% of the 567 patients studied, who received CPR in hospital, recovered sufficiently to be discharged from the hospital. However, 4 in 10 survivors recall some level of consciousness during CPR that was not captured by standard measures : 11 patients reported a feeling of consciousness during CPR and six reported a near-death experience.

The authors hypothesize that when a person dies, the brain undergoes a process called “disinhibition,” which occurs when the brain begins to shut down and many of its natural braking systems are released. This gives you access to the deepest part of consciousness, including stored memories, thoughts from early childhood until death, and other aspects of reality.

“They’re having an inner experience and their consciousness is not only there, but it’s elevated to a level they’ve never experienced before. Their thoughts become sharper and clearer than usual,” Parnia said in a call with Motherboard.

The study also found that in these patients, almost In 40% of patients, brain activity returned to or near normal, sometimes up to an hour after CPR.

As shown by electroencephalogram (EEG), a technology that records brain activity with electrodes, patients showed peaks of gamma, delta, theta, alpha and beta waves, which typically They are present when people are conscious and performing higher mental functions such as thinking, memory retrieval, and conscious perception.

The identification of signs of brain activity along with similar evidence from near-death experiences suggests that the human sense of self and consciousness, like other biological functions of the body, may not shut down completely at the moment of death. Although no one knows the evolutionary purpose of this phenomenon, “it opens the door to a systematic exploration of what happens when a person dies.”

“Although doctors have long believed that the brain suffers permanent damage about 10 minutes after the heart stops supplying it with oxygen, “Our work revealed that the brain can show signs of electrical recovery for a long time after ongoing CPR.” Parnia said.

In fact, the study reports that “close to normal/physiological EEG activity (delta, theta, alpha, beta rhythms) consistent with consciousness and a possible resumption of a network level of cognitive and neuronal activity appeared up to 35 to 60 minutes later. » of the CPR. . “This is the first report of biomarkers of consciousness during AC/CPR. »

A discovery that will have profound implications for CPR research, end-of-life care and consciousness, among other areas. “This is the first large study showing that these memories and changes in brain waves may be signs of universal, shared elements of so-called near-death experiences.”

The authors believe that remembered near-death experience merits further empirical investigation. Because even if the studies carried out so far have not been able to absolutely prove the reality or significance of patients’ experiences and assertions of consciousness in relation to death, it has also not been possible to deny.

“We essentially discover what happens to all of us when we experience death; What is happening to our conscience,” he concluded. “Our plans are to develop more comprehensive methods for analyzing what happens in the brain second by second, essentially to map the neurophysiology of life and death in people as they live there.”

Sam Parnia had previously conducted a study on CPR survivors, entitled AWARE in 2014. During the latter, the authors interviewed 101 CPR survivors, including 46% reported remembering the near-death experience. The memories included seven main cognitive themes: seeing a bright light, experiencing a sense of déjà vu, remembering life events, and meeting family members. Some survivors also claimed to have seen animals or plants, while others feared or suffered violence or persecution during their brief withdrawal from life.

In 2019, researchers compiled the results of another round of interviews with people who had survived cardiac arrest. From the comparison of the experiences of the people interviewed, it appears that 95% of those who were resuscitated (and remembered their experience) reported feeling a sense of joy and peace, 86% to have seen a light and 54% to have revisited the main events of their life. Additionally, 95% reported that the premortem experience had changed positively.

In 2022, they carried out the study CONSCIOUSNESS-II , which followed 567 men and women who suffered cardiac arrest while in hospital between May 2017 and March 2020 in the United States and the United Kingdom. A subset of 85 patients received brain monitoring during CPR. Additional accounts from 126 community cardiac arrest survivors with self-reported memories were also examined to provide further insight into themes related to the remembered experience of death.

The study found that About 20% (one in five people) who survive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after cardiac arrest can describe lucid experiences of death. which occurred while they were apparently unconscious and on the verge of death.