Any form of life has to die one day. Be it anything from the tiniest organism to the largest animals, every life has its own expiry date called death.
“Everything Dies. That is the law of life-the bitter unchangeable law”
― David Clement-Davies, Fell
But while the end moment is here, does life actually flash in front of our eyes? According to new findings from a scientific “accident,” life may literally flash before our eyes as on our death.
The brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient with epilepsy were measured by a team of scientists. However, he died of a heart attack during the neurological recording, providing an unexpected recording of a dying brain.
It demonstrated that the man’s brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.
This type of brain activity could indicate that a “recall of life” may occur in a person’s final moments. The study was published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience on Tuesday.
According to Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, the team, which was working in Vancouver, Canada at the time, received the first-ever recording of a dying brain by accident.
He told the BBC: “This was actually totally by chance, we did not plan to do this experiment or record these signals.”
So, will we be able to reminisce about wonderful times spent with loved ones? It was impossible to know, according to Dr. Zemmar.
“If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things,” he said.
“But what’s memorable would be different for every person.”
Dr. Zemmar is now a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville. He said the patient’s brainwaves followed the same patterns as when we perform high-cognitive demanding tasks like focusing, sleeping, or recalling memories in the 30 seconds before his heart stopped delivering blood to the brain. (https://firework.com/)
It went on for another 30 seconds after the patient’s heart stopped beating. It is when he or she is usually considered dead.
“This could possibly be the last recall of memories that we’ve experienced in life, and they replay through our brain in the last seconds before we die.”
The research also raises concerns about when life truly ends: when the heart stops beating or the brain stops functioning.
Dr. Zemmar and his colleagues have emphasized that a single study cannot be used to draw broad conclusions. The fact that the patient was epileptic and had a swollen and bleeding brain adds to the difficulty.
“I never felt comfortable to report one case,” Dr. Zemmar said. For years after the initial recording in 2016, he looked for similar cases to help strengthen the analysis but was unsuccessful.
However, a 2013 study on healthy rats may provide some insight.
US researchers detected strong amounts of brainwaves at the time of death until 30 seconds after the rats’ hearts stopped beating in that study. It matched the findings in Dr. Zemmar’s epileptic patient.
The similarities between research are “astounding,” according to Dr. Zemmar.
They now hope that the publication of this one human instance will pave the way for more research into death’s final moments.
“I think there’s something mystical and spiritual about this whole near-death experience,” Dr. Zemmar said. “And findings like this – it’s a moment that scientists live for.”
So, live your life to the fullest; so that if life does flash in front of our eyes on our death, it will be the best movie to watch.