Study reveals the surprising phenomenon that happens in your brain right before you die

Even if most people do not leave this world through the three most painful ways to die, the fear of death is usually great. After all, no one knows what to expect later. Thanks to a study, however, it is now known what activities the brain waves show when we die.

The brain runs at full speed when dying

Sometimes chance leads to new insights: When an 87-year-old man in Estonia is hospitalized after a fall, his brain waves are permanently monitored by EEG as a precaution. Meanwhile, the man dies of a heart attack and the EEG continues to run.

The recordings of brain waves from this period are analyzed by neurosurgeon Ajmal Zemmar and his team in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. They show that the brain runs at full speed when dying!

Neurosurgeon evaluates 15 minutes of brain activity around death

The study, entitled Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain, analyzed a total of 15 minutes of the patient's brain activity around the time of death. The brain waves are very conspicuous 30 seconds before and after death. geo.de quotes Ajmal Zemmar saying:

Shortly before and after the heart stopped beating, we saw changes in a certain frequency range of neuronal oscillations, the so-called gamma oscillations, but also in others such as delta, theta, alpha and beta oscillations.

In fact, the researchers have noticed that brain activity is extremely high during this time and the waves on the EEG correspond to those that otherwise occur during 'highly cognitive processes'. But what does this mean?

Do you watch your life play out like a movie when you die?

According to Ajmal Zemmar, the measured brain activity could actually indicate what mankind has long suspected. Namely, that during death, a kind of movie runs in front of the inner eye in which the dying relive their entire life, including all important events, in short form.

While the temporal sequence of processes in the body during dying has been known for some time and a little-known skin phenomenon occurs directly after dying, these EEG findings are new. The head of the study sees them as 'hope for relatives', as reported by geo.de:

What we can learn from this research is that even when our loved ones have closed their eyes and are ready to rest, their brains may be replaying some of the best moments they have experienced.

Read more:

⋙ Near-death experiences: Scientists may have finally discovered why some people have them

⋙ Expert reveals what could happen to your brain an hour before you die

⋙ Death rattle: This is what happens to your body 24 hours before you die

This article has been translated from Gentside DE.

Sources used:

24vita.de: Does the "movie of life" run during death? Surprising study result

geo.de: NEW FINDINGS: Researchers discover what happens in the brain during death - by chance

frontiersin.org: Enhanced Interplay of Neuronal Coherence and Coupling in the Dying Human Brain