Research results that brain waves are rapidly increasing in the dying human brain, is it the identity of the 'near-death experience'?



In a study of end-of-life care patients who chose to take off

life support , researchers at the University of Michigan found that brain waves in some patients' brains surged just before they stopped functioning. It has been speculated that this finding may have demonstrated the ' near-death experiences ' reported by many patients recovering from cardiac arrest.

Surge of neurophysiological coupling and connectivity of gamma oscillations in the dying human brain | PNAS
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2216268120



Surges of activity in the dying human brain could hint at fleeting conscious experiences | Live Science

https://www.livescience.com/health/neuroscience/surges-of-activity-in-the-dying-human-brain-could-hint-at-fleeting-conscious-experiences

Mysterious Surge of Activity Detected in The Brains of Dying People : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-surge-of-activity-detected-in-the-brains-of-dying-people

A research team led by Jimo Borjigin, a neuroscientist at the University of Michigan, studied brain activity in four patients who had to be removed from ventilators with no prospect of recovery since 2014. I took measurements.

Thirty seconds to two minutes after the ventilator was removed from the patient, a specific brain wave surge called ' gamma waves ' was measured in the brains of two of the four patients. These patients were later reported to have died from cardiac arrest or cerebral hemorrhage.

Gamma waves detected in two patients were reported to be at levels higher than those observed in normal healthy human brains, up to 300 times higher than in previous patients. .

Below is a diagram showing the detected brain activity. Brain activity is shown in yellow, orange, and red, and it can be visually confirmed that brain activity is becoming more active as it approaches from yellow to red. In the results of this research, we can confirm that the red area, which indicates that brain activity is active, spreads from S2 to S11, especially in the S7 interval.



Gamma waves were most detected in a part of the brain called

the temporoparietal junction . 'The temporoparietal junction is known to be activated when people have out-of-body experiences and dreams,' Borjigin said.

In response to this measurement result, Mr. Borjigin speculates, ``In the brain of a dying patient, there is a possibility that a conscious experience that cannot be detected by modern science and technology is unfolding at the time of life crisis.'' Borjigin also said that this response 'may be similar to the surge of cognitive activity that awakens consciousness that sleep apnea sufferers unconsciously perform to recover.' .



``The brain has a very sensitive mechanism that senses oxygen levels in the body, so we speculate that when blood circulation stops with cardiac arrest, brain activity increases,'' Borjigin said. I'm here.

It has been pointed out that the discovery by the research team of Borjigin et al.

However, since all patients in whom gamma wave surges have been observed have died, there is no way to know what they saw, felt, or experienced on the brink of death. Therefore, it is difficult to prove that 'near-death experience' actually exists in the research of Mr. Borjigin et al.



``Brain activation on the brink of death suggests increased conscious processing in these patients, but does not demonstrate a near-death experience,'' Borjigin said. They also report that 'gamma surges may be a sign of pathological processes unique to the dying stage and unrelated to conscious processing.'

``This study lays the foundation for further investigation of brain activity and consciousness during cardiac arrest, and may serve as a model system for exploring the mechanisms of human consciousness,'' Borjigin said.

Neuroscientist Raul Vicente said, ``This time it was a small data set of two people, but if we collect enough data, someday we will be able to understand what people in coma are thinking under various conditions. It opens up the possibility of being able to decipher the

in Science, Posted by log1r_ut