Biological explanation for near-death experience

[Medic]

A 'cascade' of brain activity as people die could explain near death experiences
Mysterious near death experiences may be caused by a surge of electrical activity in the brain moments before it dies, it has been claimed.

By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent
Published: 5:00PM BST 30 May 2010

Doctors believe that a burst of brain activity occurs just before death and this could account for vivid "spiritual" experiences reported by those who come back from the brink.

The researchers suggest this surge could be why some patients who have been revived when close to death report sensations such as walking towards a bright light or a feeling that they are floating above their body.

“We think the near-death experiences could be caused by a surge of electrical energy released as the brain runs out of oxygen,” said Dr Lakhmir Chawla, an intensive care doctor at George Washington University medical centre in Washington.

“As blood flow slows down and oxygen levels fall, the brain cells fire one last electrical impulse. It starts in one part of the brain and spreads in a cascade and this may give people vivid mental sensations.”

Many revived patients have reported being bathed in bright light or suffused with a sense of peace as they start to walk into a light-filled tunnel.
A few even say they experienced visions of religious figures such as Jesus or Muhammad or Krishna, while others describe floating above their own deathbed, observing the scene.

Dr Chawla believes such experiences have a biological explanation rather than a metaphysical one.

In the research he used an electroencephalograph (EEG), a device that measures brain activity, to monitor seven terminally ill people.

The medical purpose of the devices was to make sure that the patients, suffering from conditions such as cancer and heart failure, were sufficiently sedated to be out of pain. However, Dr Chawla noticed that moments before death the patients experienced a burst in brainwave activity lasting from 30 seconds to three minutes.

The activity was similar to that seen in people who are fully conscious, even though the patients appeared asleep and had no blood pressure. Soon after the surge abated, they were pronounced dead.

Dr Chawla’s research, published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, is thought to be the first to suggest that near-death experiences have a particular physiological cause.
Although it describes only seven patients, he says he has seen the same things happening “at least 50 times” as people die.

Not that anyone here likely doubted such a basis. As ever it's just nice to have something to point to.

If ever these experiences are thrown at me as proof of anything, I'll call them what they are: the agonal respirations of the mind.

[Mayabird]

“We think the near-death experiences could be caused by a surge of electrical energy released as the brain runs out of oxygen,”

So basically, "this is what happens when oxygen deprivation occurs in the brain." We knew about the oxygen deprivation part being involved but didn't have the physical mechanism that occurred when it happened, but now we may.

[SilverHawk]

Seems kinda old news, in reference to how the "light at the end of the tunnel" occurrence was explained some time. As the optic nerves sending pulses of random imput as the subject died, that was read by the brain as a light in the center of their vision.

[Invictus ChiKen]

Interesting...

Now as a religious person I have wondered if there is a soul and at new-death it is being dislodged from the body (assume there is a soul) wouldn't this cause some wacko effects on the body?

Now as I understand it modern science doesn't like to take this route because A) We cannot prove there is a soul and B) Occam's razor holds we can't go adding lots of stuff to our theories especally if we cannot prove it...

I hope the above made sense posting half asleep here folks.

[adam_grif]

Now as a religious person I have wondered if there is a soul and at new-death it is being dislodged from the body (assume there is a soul) wouldn't this cause some wacko effects on the body?

That's assuming that a soul has any causal effects on the brain. What you say below:

A) We cannot prove there is a soul and B) Occam's razor holds we can't go adding lots of stuff to our theories especally if we cannot prove it...

Is a problem here. Why can't you prove that souls exist if they do? If they have any impact at all on your brain, then that means they must interact with it. If they can interact with it, then it's measurable. They should have an easily provable physiological role in the operation of a human person's brain.

The only way you can get a free ride on the "unprovable!" train is if you claim it has no effects on the human brain, in which case a soul becomes irrelevant. Why do they exist if they don't do anything? If the human brain makes your decisions, why can a soul be punished for the decisions of the brain it's attached to? If souls do make decisions then why can't their interaction be measured?

[Oskuro]

Well, obviously the human brain is a more delicate measuring instrument than whatever science can come up with! Just like gut instinct is always righttm no matter the situation at hand or subject being discussed.

But, joking aside, I bet that Invictus' interpretation is what will be toted around by "believers" when they read this, except with more fanaticism and lack of reasoning.


On another note, I was under the impression that these pre-mortem chemo-electrical jolts from the brain were a last-ditch attempt at keeping the system online, not just a simple consequence of oxigen deprivation (that is, an evolved response to deprivation).

[Invictus ChiKen]

Now as a religious person I have wondered if there is a soul and at new-death it is being dislodged from the body (assume there is a soul) wouldn't this cause some wacko effects on the body?

That's assuming that a soul has any causal effects on the brain. What you say below:

A) We cannot prove there is a soul and B) Occam's razor holds we can't go adding lots of stuff to our theories especally if we cannot prove it...

Is a problem here. Why can't you prove that souls exist if they do? If they have any impact at all on your brain, then that means they must interact with it. If they can interact with it, then it's measurable. They should have an easily provable physiological role in the operation of a human person's brain.

The only way you can get a free ride on the "unprovable!" train is if you claim it has no effects on the human brain, in which case a soul becomes irrelevant. Why do they exist if they don't do anything? If the human brain makes your decisions, why can a soul be punished for the decisions of the brain it's attached to? If souls do make decisions then why can't their interaction be measured?

Good point I was driving at something but I can't remember what it was now so I withdraw my statement.