The headline above comes from an August 12 CBS News report (http://is.gd/53gSTe), which continued:
“The brain remains conscious after the heart stops beating, according to University of Michigan researchers. It may even function higher in the moments immediately following cardiac arrest than it does when the body is in a normal state.
The finding supports the shared experience of nearly 20 percent of people who have survived cardiac arrest. These survivors report having internal visions and heightened perception, known as near-death experiences, but the scientific reality of the experience has long been debated.
In a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the team explains that in a study of nine rats, they observed continued brain activity even after the heart stopped beating and blood flow ceased. Compared to anesthetized and waking states, brain activity and coherence actually increased immediately following cardiac arrest. While the sample size is small, the results were observed in all nine of the rats studied.”
The findings, which shed light on the continuing debate over how and whether the dying brain is capable of generating conscious activity, have been widely reported this week.
The online publication medicalxpress.com says (http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-08-electrical-signatures-consciousness-dying-brain.html):
“This study, performed in animals, is the first dealing with what happens to the neurophysiological state of the dying brain,” says lead study author Jimo Borjigin, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology and associate professor of neurology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
“It will form the foundation for future human studies investigating mental experiences occurring in the dying brain, including seeing light during cardiac arrest,” she says.
Approximately 20 percent of cardiac arrest survivors report having had a near-death experience during clinical death. These visions and perceptions have been called “realer than real,” according to previous research, but it remains unclear whether the brain is capable of such activity after cardiac arrest.
“We reasoned that if near-death experience stems from brain activity, neural correlates of consciousness should be identifiable in humans or animals even after the cessation of cerebral blood flow,” she says.
Researchers analyzed the recordings of brain activity, called electroencephalograms (EEGs), from nine anesthetized rats undergoing experimentally induced cardiac arrest.
Within the first 30 seconds after cardiac arrest, all of the rats displayed a widespread, transient surge of highly synchronized brain activity that had features associated with a highly aroused brain.
Furthermore, the authors observed nearly identical patterns in the dying brains of rats undergoing asphyxiation.
“The prediction that we would find some signs of conscious activity in the brain during cardiac arrest was confirmed with the data,” says Borjigin, who conceived the idea for the project in 2007 with study co-author neurologist Michael M. Wang, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of neurology and associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology at the U-M.
“But, we were surprised by the high levels of activity,” adds study senior author anesthesiologist George Mashour, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of anesthesiology and neurosurgery at the U-M. ” In fact, at near-death, many known electrical signatures of consciousness exceeded levels found in the waking state, suggesting that the brain is capable of well-organized electrical activity during the early stage of clinical death.”
The brain is assumed to be inactive during cardiac arrest. However the neurophysiological state of the brain immediately following cardiac arrest had not been systemically investigated until now.
The PNAS abstract concludes:
“High-frequency neurophysiological activity in the near-death state exceeded levels found during the conscious waking state. These data demonstrate that the mammalian brain can, albeit paradoxically, generate neural correlates of heightened conscious processing at near-death.”
Fascinating, and so validating for your work, Nancy. Makes me wonder what happens to our brains when our hearts are working. Another take on “brain drain,” I guess!
Pin van Lommel was asked about this study. Here is what he had to say:
http://forum.mind-energy.net/skeptiko-podcast/5535-pim-van-lommels-take-rats-study.html#post163006
“This terminal EEG activity in the first 30 seconds after cardiac arrest in rats, before the EEG flat lines, is just about activity in the brain. It tells us nothing about consciousness, and even the rats cannot tell us what they have experienced in the first 30 seconds after their cardiac arrest….
Moreover, in the studies in humans in induced cardiac arrest during threshold testing of ICDs there was a different kind of brain activity in the EEG in the first 10-20 seconds after cardiac arrest.
What is important that often veridical perceptions during NDE/OBE do occur later than the first 30 seconds after cardiac arrest, like the case of the denture man in our study, as in many other corroborated cases of veridical perceptions during NDE/OBE. So this activity in rat brains is no explanation whatsoever about NDEs, but it is an interesting finding.
From the article Nonlocal Consciousness, A concept based on scientific research on near-death experiences during cardiac arrest , Journal of Consciousness Studies, by Pim van Lommel
How do we know for sure that the EEG is flat in those patients with cardiac arrest, and how can we study this? In normal circumstances no attempts are made to register an EEG during cardiac arrest, because this takes far too much time, and patients need to be successfully resuscitated and defibrillated as soon as possible. But there have been some cases in which the electrical activity of the brain was measured (EEG) during a cardiac arrest, for example during surgery. Following the cardiac arrest (‘no-flow’), the EEG flat-lined after an average of fifteen seconds and remained flat despite external resuscitation (‘low flow’) (Hossmann et al., 1973, Moss et al., 1980, Clute et al., 1990, Losasso et al., 1992). A persistent flat-line EEG during external CPR has also been shown in animal studies (Bircher et al., 1980).
Monitoring of the electrical activity of the cortex (EEG) has shown that the first ischemic changes during induced cardiac arrest in humans are detected an average of 6.5 seconds after circulatory arrest. Ischemic changes in the EEG show a decrease of power in fast activity and in delta activity and an increase of slow delta I activity, sometimes also an increase in amplitude of theta activity, progressively and ultimately declining to iso-electricity. But more often initial slowing and attenuation of the EEG waves is the first sign of cerebral ischemia. With prolongation of the cerebral ischemia, progression to a flat-line EEG always occurs within 10 to 20 (mean 15) seconds from the onset of cardiac arrest (De Vries et al.1998, Clute at al., 1990, Losasso et al. 1992, Parnia and Fenwick 2002), and the EEG remains flat during the cardiac arrest until cardiac output has been restored by defibrillation (Fisher et al. 1996, Marshall et al 2001).
In tests on animals auditory evoked potentials, or measures of brain-stem viability, can no longer be induced, which means that the reaction caused in a normal functioning brain-stem by sound stimulation is no longer produced (Brantson et al, 1984, Gua et al, 1995).”
Well, how about this! Great news that many know already. Is like learning the world is not flat. But, geesh, I feel sad for the rats. For comic relief I imagine a 6 foot rat wearing a cape and rescues the rats.
Mighty Mouse was my first crush, when I was very little, and wanted him to “save the day” by flying me home. LOL
Congrats, Nan. ; )
Much LOVE!
I’m fascinated by the way hard-line materialists view this study as evidence that NDE’s are imaginary experiences, while the transcendent crowd sees it as vindication of their views.
Now the skeptic has the possibility of having something to latch onto – “See, we told you there had to be some brain activity going on during these experiences!” (No, actually, one of the big skeptic positions was that NDE’s were reconstructions).
But the spiritual believers see this as proof that the brain is having one last fizzle with the mind as it makes its transition into Being.
Sometimes it seems like the whole world is one big Rorschach test.
I have to say that this probably doesn’t explain near-death experiences at all other than perhaps there is a burst of neural activity that accompanies the soul exiting the body.
The case of Eben Alexander basically puts the the dying brain theory to rest. Eben had one of the richest NDE’s on record while in a week long coma. Not only was his heart beating the entire time (in contrast to the rat experiments) but the bacterial infection that ravaged his brain shut down his outer cortex and so couldn’t be responsible for creating the complexity of the experience that he had. This was medically confirmed as he was hooked up to an eeg machine and displayed no brain waves for the entirety of his coma.
Also, it is commonplace for people who experience an NDE to both leave and re-enter their bodies and to give verifiable information as to what was going on in the scene around them. These happen in time frames far beyond the small window that these tests indicate. People sometimes return to their dead bodies after ten minutes or more and provide descriptions that sound as if they were floating above the scene the entire time, and indeed, it seems that they were.
I’m not arguing that NDE’s are proven to be the spiritual experiences they seem to be, only that if one is open to the idea, that is the most parsimonious explanation.
When I read scientific reports like these, it is clear to me that those involved have not really come to terms with the breadth, power and complexity of these experiences. Instead they are trying to explain a grossly simplified symptom list: warm feelings, a bright light, hyper-reality. Sure, a 30 second burst of brain activity could be responsible for that, but for a panoramic life-review conducted by angels, with an eye toward the highest spiritual good, given only after the experiencer expresses consent? Or a preview of the life to come that is later verified? Or a detailed tutorial of the workings of higher dimensional space?
Any sufficiently advanced NDE is just too complex and too powerful to be explained by any short burst of neural activity, no matter how intense.
Well, it is about time that studies are being done on none humans. Good grief, we have had over thirty years of human testimony pouring into the collective consciousness of science and now rats are being taken seriously? Hmmm. When will they test monkeys? Not that I endorse any studies that may harm them. It is wonderful to hear that consciousness is not limited to humans who are always characterized as the zenith of evolution. I knew that my dog Tippy has a soul!
Yeah! Norman. I live with four cats and a little dog. Every one of them has a separate personality and a soul. My wife won’t part with them. What’s the old saying “Love Me Love My Dog? With me, where she’s concerned, it’s love me love my zoo. But if she was facing a firing squad, I’d be standing there too holding hands with her.
I had my experience when my brain was not dying. Two days after heart surgery My consciousness went to a totally different reality. It was a real place, and my consciousness was observing experiencing, and moving around in it.
It was totally vivid, and I’ve never been able to forget it, or the feelings I had while I was there. There are many other different realities besides the one we’re existing in the moment, and they’re only a moment away.
2 cases i know from romanian nde’s seem similar whit westerm nde’s.
A case of a romanian that become monk after a negative nde.He saw 2 tunnels,one made of light ,one made of darkness.An invisible force push him in the dark tunnel .At the end of the tunnel he saw priests an monks tormenting in flames.
In second case a romanian alcoholic become unusual tired and he saw a horrible 20 feet giant .The man call his brother in help and his brother came whit a knife but he didnt see any giant.The giant said”im the devil or death,whatever you want to call me.now come whit me”After these words he feel pushed out from his body and after some traveling he reach a tunnel.At the end of tunnel there were people in flames.The the ugly giat tell him”Now ,jump in the flames”The man become extremely scared and try to escape.The a angel appear and take the man in heaven and give him a ”visitor body” made of different colors.The angel show him some trees that represent good deeds.The man reach his good deeds tree and the tree was very small.Then the angel send him back and he awake in the hospital morgue 6 hours later.He was unable to recognize his wife and all people apear to him “like childrens”.After some time he return to normal and reconize his wife.
oh, my. I’ve been terror filled by what I called a Monk, but was the angel of death that literally knocked on my door. More than once. He grabbbed my ankles, beat the bed around my feet, and tried to pull me off the bed.
Had a hellish death that utterly turned my world upside down, and was a walking, talking ball of pain.
For someone to have a hellish death with fire, causes me to shudder. I can not understand why God doesn’t cut and paste the hellish places, after rescuing everyone first, with no one there I imagine it would “self absorb” and no longer would be.
I came back knowing hell is not real, it wasn’t eternal/damnation, that God did NOT create it that instead, mankind did via negative deeds, words and actions. Yet, no one is exempt. Saints have experienced hell while drug addicts/alcoholics experiences
With that, I feel it iis
First of all, you can not equate the experiment on rats with human beings, it is true that medical science considers man only and exclusively biological, rejecting a priori any transcendence of life.
Compare then the rats to men is just childish, because only human beings have awareness of being, and is aware of the three states of time “Past-Present-Future”, then the experiments on rats can tell us more information but can not be considered relevant to the NDE.
In addition, there is another aspect to consider, and are the various stories on how, when and in what way the operation was conducted in the operating room, detailed accounts of events out of context operative, and that the patient because of his state of immobility and “death” could not possibly know, but from “Returning” he told very precisely, after having accurate feedback on his stories.
Finally, it is understandable that the “Medical Science”, trying in every way to invalidate these experiences, which if accepted would collapse their scaffolding exclusively materialistic, with all that this entails.
Not knowing the English I had to use the Google translator
Francesco Franco Coladarci
Thank you for your comment. The Google translator worked!
I’m amazed, I have to admit. Rarely do I encounter a blog
that’s both educative and amusing, annd without a doubt,
you have hit the nail on the head. The issue
is something too few folks are speaking intelligently about.
I am very happyy I stumbled across this during my hunt for something concerning this.
Thanks! Glad you found it and hope you keep reading.
Nancy, that’s a spambot. It’s hoping people will click on the link. I suggest you delete the post.
Thanks! Trashed.
Nan, what really matters is those like us know the truth and are honest about our NDEs as much as we can because words can’t convey the fullness of them.
I’ve come to know that the only real thing is love. Unconditional love.
I send you love.
Thanks, Lin.