A new study reveals that one in five individuals who survive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) following cardiac arrest may remember lucid experiences of death that occurred while they were unconscious and on the verge of death.
The study included 567 men and women whose hearts stopped beating while hospitalized and who underwent CPR between May 2017 and March 2020 in the United States and United Kingdom. The study was led by researchers from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and other institutions. Less than 10% of patients recovered well enough to be released from the hospital despite receiving prompt care.
Survivors said they had unique lucid experiences, such as feeling separate from their bodies, being able to watch events without pain or distress, and making sense of their actions, intentions, and thoughts about other people. The researchers found that these near-death experiences were not the same as hallucinations, delusions, illusions, dreams, or waking up from CPR.
The research also included tests to detect hidden brain activity. Up to an hour during CPR, researchers discovered spikes in brain activity, including so-called gamma, delta, theta, alpha, and beta waves. Some of these brain waves are typically generated when a person is conscious and doing higher mental activities, such as reasoning, memory recall, and conscious perception.
“These recalled experiences and brain wave changes,” remarks lead author Sam Parnia, “may be the first signs of the so-called near-death experience, and we have captured them for the first time in a large study.”
“Our results offer evidence,” adds the author, “that while on the brink of death and in a coma, people undergo a unique inner conscious experience, including awareness without distress.”
Parnia adds that the identification of measurable electrical signs of lucid and heightened brain activity, along with similar accounts of recalled near-death experiences, clearly indicates that the human sense of self and consciousness may not cease completely at the time of death, similar to other biological body functions.
“These lucid experiences cannot be considered a trick of a disordered or dying brain,” highlights the author, “but rather a unique human experience that emerges on the brink death.
“As the brain is shutting down, many of its natural braking systems are released. Known as disinhibition, this provides access to the depths of a person’s consciousness, including stored memories, thoughts from early childhood to death, and other aspects of reality.
“While no one knows the evolutionary purpose of this phenomenon, it clearly reveals “intriguing questions about human consciousness, even at death,” adds Parnia.
The study’s authors came to the conclusion that studies haven’t been able to prove or disprove the reality or meaning of patients’ experiences and claims of being aware of death, but they haven’t been able to deny them either. They argue that the topic of postmortem memories deserves unbiased, serious empirical study moving forward.
This study is to be presented during the resuscitation science symposium at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2022 on Sunday, Nov. 6, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago Hotel in Chicago.
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