The first-ever recording of a dying brain has revealed we might relive some of our best memories in our last moments. Scientists accidentally captured our most complex organ as it shut down, showing an astonishing snapshot into death.
A patient was being treated for epilepsy, hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG). The 87-year-old man’s brain activity was being measured when he suddenly had a heart attack and died.
This meant the 15 minutes around his death were recorded on the EEG. In the 30 seconds on either side of the patient’s final heartbeat, an increase in very specific brain waves was spotted. These waves, known as gamma oscillations, are linked to things like memory retrieval, meditation, and dreams.
We can’t say for sure whether dying people really do see their life flash before their eyes, but this particualar study seems to support the idea. And the scientists say the brain is capable of co-ordinated activity for a short period even after the blood stops flowing through it.
‘Through generating oscillations involved in memory retrieval, the brain may be playing a last recall of important life events just before we die, similar to the ones reported in near-death experiences,’ said Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience.
‘These findings challenge our understanding of when exactly life ends and generate important subsequent questions, such as those related to the timing of organ donation.’
