Lucid Death: A Spark of Consciousness Detected in the Dying Brain

summary: Groundbreaking new research sheds light on the mystery of near-death experiences, providing early evidence of consciousness in the dying brain.

Researchers have identified a surge of gamma wave activity associated with consciousness in the dying brains of comatose patients. This activity was detected in neural hotspots associated with dreams and altered states of consciousness and provided exciting new insights into the human mind.

Although caution is warranted due to the small sample size, this study could change the way we understand death.

important facts:

1. A new study provides early evidence of a surge in activity correlated with consciousness in the dying brain.
2. The study identified four patients who died of cardiac arrest in hospital during EEG monitoring. Two of the patients showed an increase in heart rate along with a surge of gamma wave activity, which is considered the fastest brain activity and is associated with consciousness.
3. This activity was detected in the so-called hot zone of neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the junction of the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes in the posterior part of the brain.

sauce: University of Michigan

reports of Near-death experience— Stories of white light, visits from deceased loved ones, hearing voices and more—capture our imaginations and are deeply ingrained in our cultural landscape.

The fact that these reports share so much in common begs the question whether there is anything fundamentally real to underpin them. It gives a glimpse of the consciousness that does not disappear completely even after the heartbeat stops. .

New research published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesprovides early evidence for a surge in activity correlated with consciousness in the dying brain.

Led by Jimo Borjigin, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and Neurology, the study is a follow-up to an animal study conducted in collaboration with Georges Machour nearly a decade ago. , MD, Ph.D., Founding Director of the Michigan Center for Consciousness Science.

Similar signatures of gamma activation were recorded in the dying brains of both animals and humans due to oxygen loss after cardiac arrest.

“How vivid experiences emerge from a dysfunctional brain during the dying process is a neuroscience paradox. We did,” said Mashour.

The team identified four patients who died of cardiac arrest in hospital during EEG monitoring. All four patients were comatose and unresponsive. They were ultimately judged to be incapable of receiving medical help and were taken off life support with the permission of their families.

When ventilator support was removed, two of the patients showed an increase in heart rate with a surge in gamma wave activity.

Furthermore, activity was detected in the so-called hot zone of neural correlates of consciousness in the brain, the junction of the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes in the posterior part of the brain. This region correlates with dreams, hallucinations in epilepsy, and altered states of consciousness in other brain studies.

These two patients had previous reports of seizures but had no seizures in the hour before death, said a clinical associate professor of neurology who had been working with Dr. Borjigin on the collection since 2015. Nusha Mihaylova, MD, Ph.D. explained. EEG data of a patient who died under ICU care.

Two other patients did not show the same increase in heart rate and no increase in brain activity when taken off life support.

Due to the small sample size, the authors caution against making global statements about the implications of their findings. It says it’s impossible.

“In this study, we are unable to correlate the observed neural signatures of consciousness with the corresponding experiences of the same patients. However, the observed findings are undoubtedly exciting and offer opportunities to understand the hidden consciousness of dying humans.” It provides a new framework for

A large multicenter study involving EEG-monitored ICU patients who survived cardiac arrest is critically needed to determine whether these bursts of gamma-ray activity are evidence of hidden consciousness even near death. may provide data.

Other authors on this paper include Gang Xu, Duan Li, Fangyun Tian, ​​Peter M. Farrehi, Jack M. Parent, and Michael Wang.

About this poll news

author: Kelly Malcolm
sauce: University of Michigan
contact: Kelly Malcolm – University of Michigan
image: Image credited to Neuroscience News

Original research: open access.
“A surge in gamma-oscillation neurophysiological connections and connections in the dying human brain” by Jimo Borjigin et al. PNAS

overview

A surge in gamma-oscillation neurophysiological connections and connections in the dying human brain

It is believed that brain activity decreases during cardiac arrest. However, animal models of cardiac arrest and respiratory arrest show a surge of gamma oscillations and functional connectivity.

To investigate whether these preclinical findings translate to humans, we analyzed EEG and ECG signals in four comatose patients before and after discontinuation of ventilatory support.

Two of the four patients showed rapid and pronounced surges in gamma power, surges and slower oscillations of cross-frequency coupling of gamma waves, and increased interhemispheric function and directed connectivity in the gamma band. rice field.

High-frequency oscillations paralleled the activation of beta/gamma cross-frequency connections within the somatosensory cortex. Importantly, both patients experienced a surge in functional and directional connectivity in multiple frequency bands within the posterior cortical “hot zone”, a region hypothesized to be important for conscious processing. showed. This gamma-ray activity was stimulated by global hypoxia and further surged as the dying patient’s cardiac condition worsened.

These data demonstrate that the surge in gamma output and connectivity observed in animal models of cardiac arrest can be observed in selected patients during the course of death.