Surge of activities detected in brains of dying people: Study
Now, a team of researchers identified a mysterious surge of activity in the brain of two people who were on the verge of dying
For several years, neuroscientists across the world have been trying to unravel the secrets of the brain. Now, a team of researchers identified a mysterious surge of activity in the brain of two people who were on the verge of dying.
Scientists have been trying to understand the human brain and what happens in it right before a person dies. Previously, studies were conducted on animals for the same reason, and they showed a surge of gamma wave activities before they go into cardiac and respiratory arrest.
To understand the happening of a human brain during one’s final moments scientists from the US-based University of Michigan analyzed the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) signals in four dying patients before and after the withdrawal of ventilatory support.
Notably, the four patients were in a state of coma.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study states that researchers have found the resultant global hypoxia marked by stimulated gamma activities in two of the patients.
“Brain function around the time of cardiac arrest is poorly understood. While the loss of overt consciousness is invariably associated with cardiac arrest, it is unclear whether patients can possess covert consciousness during the dying process,” scientists wrote in the paper.
In 2014, a similar study by the University of Michigan’s academic medical center, where a patient died in the neuro-intensive care unit, a sharp jump in gamma waves was noticed in one part of the brain. It established a long-range connection across both hemispheres of the brain.
“Internal perception of bright light or familiar faces reported by survivors of clinical death (3) suggests a preserved capacity in the dying brain to process internally generated vision. It remains to be determined if the posterior cortical regions are activated in the dying human brain,” the paper further read.
Initially, the gamma wave was located in the part of the brain otherwise known as the ‘hot zone,’ which in the past has been associated with people dreaming, and seizure patients who report having visual hallucinations. The hot zone in the brain is a region postulated to be critical for conscious processing.
However, unfortunately, no further detail could be procured during this study as due to the elevated gamma waves the patients did not survive to enlighten the world on what they saw.
“While the mechanisms and physiological significance of these findings remain to be fully explored, these data demonstrate that the dying brain can still be active. They also suggest the need to reevaluate the role of the brain during cardiac arrest,” the team concluded in the paper.
Ms Kalinga