Major study shows mind still works after the body shows no signs of life.

[Nefastus]

Death just became even more scary: scientists say people are aware they’re dead*because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped showing signs of life.

That means that, theoretically, someone may even hear their own death being announced by medics.

The claim was made by Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York City.


He and his team are looking at people who suffered cardiac arrest, technically died, but were later revived. It’s the largest study of its type ever carried out.

Some of those studied*say they had awareness of full conversations and seeing things that were going on around them, even after they were pronounced dead.
These accounts were then verified by the medical and nursing staff who were present at the time.
Death is defined as the point at which the heart no longer beats, and blood flow to the brain is cut off.


Dr Sam Parnia said: “Technically, that's how you get the time of death – it's all based on the moment when the heart stops.

“Once that happens, blood no longer circulates to the brain, which means brain function halts almost instantaneously.

“You lose all your brain stem reflexes – your gag reflex, your pupil reflex, all that is gone.”

However, there’s evidence to suggest that there’s a burst of brain energy as someone dies.

In 2013 researchers at the University of Michigan looked at the electrical signals inside the brains of nine anaesthetised rats having an induced heart attack.

They saw activity patterns which are linked to a “hyper-alerted state” in the brief period after clinical death.

Dr Parnia said: "In the same way that a group of researchers might be studying the qualitative nature of the human experience of 'love',*for instance, we're trying to understand the exact features that people experience when they go through death, because we understand that this is going to reflect the universal experience we're all going to have when we die."

Something that I didn't need to know

[Independent voter]

F'ck! I'm dead.

[Dezerte]

It's something I've often heard/read about, but weren't sure whether it was true or how long this moment of post-death lasts.

Well energy can't be created or destroyed and our consciousnesses are just a collection of electrical signals firing between neurons...

So "technically" when you die the energy that makes up your being is still floating around out there in one form or another.

Your body/brain only "generates" (i.e. transforms) energy because you are feeding it with energy (i.e. oxygen, calories etc).

[Ealyssa]

I like how everyone suddenly became a Phd neurologist or something and know exactly how the brain works "yea doh, isn't it obvious?".

Rule number one of internet forums : everyone is a specialist on everything. And the more stupid they are the more obvious their knowledge is.

[Cerilis]

Rule number one of internet forums : everyone is a specialist on everything. And the more stupid they are the more obvious their knowledge is.

Prrf, are you pretending to be a specialist in internet forums or what?

[Auxora]

To some degree it's been known for a very long time. In France (especially back during the French Revolution) there were lots of people decapitated by guillotine, and there were many reports of decapitated heads where eyes would look around and be clearly conscious for a short time after. It would only last 5-10 seconds but that kind of reinforces this.

I also definitely think that people considered non-responsive near death can often hear things as well. That's been proven scientifically a number of times.

[Ealyssa]

Prrf, are you pretending to be a specialist in internet forums or what?

I have a PhD in internet foruming from a famous online university, yes.

[chrisnumbers]

Oh shit, a MAJOR study?
That's no ordinary study, ladies and gentlemen!

[schwarzkopf]

Mind is part of the body, so if the mind is still doing stuff then by definition the body is showing signs of life.

Ergo - I call BS on the article.

[Aydinx2]

How did they even measure this?
If the brain still has signals going, surely it still counts as signs of life?
And the mind is created by the brain so anything in the mind still going on shows that the brain is still functioning.

[Elim Garak]

For the life of me, the only three words that make sense that I can think of are... "I want brainsssssss!"

What did you mean?

Not a who fan, then.

The words are: don't cremate me.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh shit, a MAJOR study?
That's no ordinary study, ladies and gentlemen!

Let's wait for the commander-in-chief study, though

[brimdog]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im glad they used enough good sounding words to make it believable to the sheep
technically,,,evidence suggests,,,the testimony of people that were pronounced dead...
if you dont know what it means to be fed information to further an agenda then you should research the word naive.

[Najnaj]

This guy is trying to prove the existence of a soul. He is placing hidden objects on top of shelves not visible from below to see if something "floats up" from the body when we die. This is nonsense and pseudoscience.

Even if you do believe in god and an afterlife there is no reason what so ever other than stupidity to think that the "soul" would go up...presumably towards the heaven where god lives on a cloud.

[Deleted]

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
im glad they used enough good sounding words to make it believable to the sheep
technically,,,evidence suggests,,,the testimony of people that were pronounced dead...
if you dont know what it means to be fed information to further an agenda then you should research the word naive.

What's the agenda here.

[patuxz]

You would think there has to be something physical to pick up the sound signals (human talk interpreted by brain)?

[Sunseeker]

Yes? I thought it was well known that the brain can function for quite some time after "death"?

[Ghostpanther]

This guy is trying to prove the existence of a soul. He is placing hidden objects on top of shelves not visible from below to see if something "floats up" from the body when we die. This is nonsense and pseudoscience.

Even if you do believe in god and an afterlife there is no reason what so ever other than stupidity to think that the "soul" would go up...presumably towards the heaven where god lives on a cloud.

There is. It is called faith. You ether have it or not.

[Slant]

Not a who fan, then.

The words are: don't cremate me.

Er, I like Who, actually. That just didn't jump to my mind immediately.

[petej0]

If it makes you feel any better, this article mentions the word "technically" a lot.

Well energy can't be created or destroyed and our consciousnesses are just a collection of electrical signals firing between neurons...

So "technically" when you die the energy that makes up your being is still floating around out there in one form or another.

Your energy slowly dissipates as heat. The nuerons stop firing as the cells use up the fuel the mitochondria have. There is no "Energy" that continues floating around the universe. Just as when you turn off your car engine, when your brain shuts down, thats it.

[Amaterasu65]

In my criminal law class I learnt that death is defined by the necrosis of the brain. Brain death = actual death, and in that case the mind cannot think. The stopping of the heart itself does not necessarily mean death, unless the brain is dead as well. I believe people in the medical faculty can confirm.