News: Near-death Study

First study on near-death

Scientists say there is a surge of electrical activity triggered by the brain in the moments before death, apparent from a study of the brainwaves of dying patients

      Experts, who have unravelled the mystery of near-death experience, says there is a surge of electrical activity triggered by the brain in kthe moments before death, apparent from a study of the brainwaves of dying patients.

        The brain activity was similar to that seen in people who are fully conscious, even though the patients appeared asleep. Soon after the surge abated, the patients were pronounced dead, said Lakhmir Chawla,an anaesthesiologist at George Washington University medical centre in Washington.

        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. Other scientific studies suggest that 15-20% of people who go through cardiac arrest and clinical death report lucid, well structured thought processes, reasoning, memories and sometimes detailed recall of events during their encounter with death has prompted the launch of the Awareness During Resuscitation study, known as Aware, led by Sam Parnia, visiting fellow at Southampton University's school of medicine.

       "Since the patients (in Chawla's study) all died, we cannot tell what they were experiencing," said Parnia, suggesting the conclusions need to be treated with caution as there was no proof that the eletrical surge was linked to a near-death experience.

       Chawla is now planning a further study, using more advanced EEG machines to follow what happens to the brain during death. "Our findings do not really tell us anything about whether there is an afterlife or not. Even if these near-death experiences turn out to be a purely biochemical event, there could still be a God." he said.