Near-Death Experiences: What Happens in the Brain Before Dying

Hi folks...not so hot off the back of my last venture into life after death thread err...hoax (less said the better) I found this on Yahoo today!

In the moments before death, the heart plays a central role, conventional wisdom says. That is, as the heart stops beating and blood stops flowing, the rest of the body slowly shuts down. But new research suggests this view may be wrong.

Apparently they did studies in rats (yes I know cruel, but one day we might be able to sav the little furry fellas in some ironic self-serving fashion?!) what they found was, contrary to popular belief.

Scientists studied the heart and brain activity of rats in the moments before the animals died from lack of oxygen, and found that the animals' brains sent a flurry of signals to the heart that caused irrevocable damage to the organ, and in fact caused its demise. When the researchers blocked these signals, the heart survived for longer.

The article goes on to say, this might explain near death experience...

While the heart and brain were in sync, the researchers observed a flood of more than a dozen neurochemicals, such as dopamine, which produces feelings of pleasure, and norepinephrine, which causes feelings of alertness. This flood of chemicals could explain why people who undergo near-death experiences describe them as "realer than real," Borjigin noted.

For full article click Here!


Fascinating stuff, of course one could argue the flurry of activity by the brain to the heart, could equally be explained as "pack your bags your leaving" to the soul, but who knows, I think it is an interesting development and one which paves the way to a deeper understanding of consciousness perhaps.

Flip it around, if they can block the brain chemistry from reaching the heart, could they perhaps transfer the consciousness into a vessle of some kind, one which would outlive the human condition?

I hope so, brain in a jar...doesn't sound like much of a life, but then do we actually experience physically?

I just think the body facilitates the soul leaving. My son's NDE not only resulted in collapsing when his heart failed from high temperature, but despite being deathly ill, when he chose to stay and re-entered the body, he was 100% healed.

Healing and an NDE!

a reply to: solargeddon


"Fascinating stuff, of course one could argue the flurry of activity by the brain to the heart, could equally be explained as "pack your bags your leaving" to the soul, but who knows...."

I found this off-hand comment in the OP matches a thought that I had about two seconds earlier. But it was about something not covered in this view of NDEs. One of the most common occurrences we hear about from NDE experiencers is that of "My life flashed before my eyes." That description comes in many forms and intensities, but it evidently is a function of the brain responding to exactly that, a NDE.

Why causes that? Can we assume that happens even to the people that actually die a second or two later? Is Nature trying to tell us something that we fail to commonly recognize except perhaps through a veil of religious mumbo-jumbo as an explanation? Whether you believe in a conscious Universe, a spirit world, Akashic (sp?) Records or whatever, there seems to be something about the brain that wants to dump its contents for a reason. Is it simply a last, split-second effort of the brain/mind wanting to review its history, or is all of that stuff going elsewhere?

a reply to: Aliensun

Is it simply a last, split-second effort of the brain/mind wanting to review its history, or is all of that stuff going elsewhere?

Well, now this is the question, one I'm not sure we will get a definitive answer to, anytime soon anyway.

Though I think there must be some purpose to it, quite what that is...no-one knows.

a reply to: solargeddon

Flip it around, if they can block the brain chemistry from reaching the heart, could they perhaps transfer the consciousness into a vessle of some kind, one which would outlive the human condition?

Wouldn't this, in a way, be cruel to someone who is horribly injured and their body is ready to die? We would be delaying death and prolonging suffering in someone. I suppose it could help us understand certain things but when your ready to go, it's natures way of saying you are ready to do so.

No theory can yet explain this. Even the Doctors are stumped.

originally posted by: solargeddon

While the heart and brain were in sync, the researchers observed a flood of more than a dozen neurochemicals, such as dopamine, which produces feelings of pleasure, and norepinephrine, which causes feelings of alertness. This flood of chemicals could explain why people who undergo near-death experiences describe them as "realer than real," Borjigin noted.

For the skeptics of life after death, what purpose would increased alertness serve from an evolutionary stand point if it is soon to be lights out?

Why is it just not lights out and unconsciousness?

originally posted by: jacobe001

originally posted by: solargeddon

While the heart and brain were in sync, the researchers observed a flood of more than a dozen neurochemicals, such as dopamine, which produces feelings of pleasure, and norepinephrine, which causes feelings of alertness. This flood of chemicals could explain why people who undergo near-death experiences describe them as "realer than real," Borjigin noted.

For the skeptics of life after death, what purpose would increased alertness serve from an evolutionary stand point if it is soon to be lights out?

Why is it just not lights out and unconsciousness?

Well, it could be...seems an arwful waste if that's the case.

Best guess, an effective shutdown process to knock you cold dead...so your bodily fluids can seep and weep from various oriffices right on cue.

Too graphic? Well you asked.

originally posted by: blackmetalmist
a reply to: solargeddon

Flip it around, if they can block the brain chemistry from reaching the heart, could they perhaps transfer the consciousness into a vessle of some kind, one which would outlive the human condition?

Wouldn't this, in a way, be cruel to someone who is horribly injured and their body is ready to die? We would be delaying death and prolonging suffering in someone. I suppose it could help us understand certain things but when your ready to go, it's natures way of saying you are ready to do so.

Not if the individual was compus mentus, willing to go on experiencing life in a diminished capacity, with the oncoming singularity we keep being promised, I'm sure there is a myriad of gadgetry just waiting to b be discovered.

Sure surviving past the physical body would come with its moral and ethical implications, just look at Transcendence, but we are not there yet and I don't think it's something we need to worry about anytime soon.

a reply to: solargeddon

there's a growing number of people, myself included, who remember existing prior to being born into a body....as pure non-physical bodiless consciousness, and choosing to be born. So for me, NDE's are natural and no biggie, and the afterlife is actually normal life, but our lives here are abnormal and weird, limited, etc

originally posted by: dominicus
a reply to: solargeddon

there's a growing number of people, myself included, who remember existing prior to being born into a body....as pure non-physical bodiless consciousness, and choosing to be born. So for me, NDE's are natural and no biggie, and the afterlife is actually normal life, but our lives here are abnormal and weird, limited, etc

I think we are heading in this direction, my belief is not disimilar, however the science isn't there yet to reach the same conclusion, I have never had an NDE, don't think I recall any past lives, but I have an intuition, which leans to believing our consciousness survives physical death.

Sadly my 8 year old is petrified of death and hasn't come to the same conclusion, she panics a lot about me dying, her dying, I hope she grows out of it, but in the meantime I am loathe to try to convince her, it is something she has to believe herself, not something she is told, but a personal moment, epithany if you like, she might not learn it this time, but if my intuition is right, one day she will.

originally posted by: solargeddon

originally posted by: dominicus
a reply to: solargeddon

there's a growing number of people, myself included, who remember existing prior to being born into a body....as pure non-physical bodiless consciousness, and choosing to be born. So for me, NDE's are natural and no biggie, and the afterlife is actually normal life, but our lives here are abnormal and weird, limited, etc

I think we are heading in this direction, my belief is not disimilar, however the science isn't there yet to reach the same conclusion, I have never had an NDE, don't think I recall any past lives, but I have an intuition, which leans to believing our consciousness survives physical death.

Sadly my 8 year old is petrified of death and hasn't come to the same conclusion, she panics a lot about me dying, her dying, I hope she grows out of it, but in the meantime I am loathe to try to convince her, it is something she has to believe herself, not something she is told, but a personal moment, epithany if you like, she might not learn it this time, but if my intuition is right, one day she will.

yeah give her time to get over it. It's just not computing for her right now.....

I had something similar when I was a kid, a kind of anxiety that everything's permanent, but I intuitively already knew that the way things are here on earth, isn't how its supposed to be. She just needs time to grow, maybe ask her about intuition and see if she can tap into it.