After Death You're Aware that You've Died, Scientist Say

[Guest Dr. Parnia]

Death just became even more scary: scientists say people are aware they’re dead because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped showing signs of life. That means that, theoretically, someone may even hear their own death being announced by medics.

The claim was made by Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York City.

 

He and his team are looking at people who suffered cardiac arrest, technically died, but were later revived. It’s the largest study of its type ever carried out. Some of those studied say they had awareness of full conversations and seeing things that were going on around them, even after they were pronounced dead.

 

These accounts were then verified by the medical and nursing staff who were present at the time. Death is defined as the point at which the heart no longer beats, and blood flow to the brain is cut off.

 

Dr Sam Parnia said:

“Technically, that's how you get the time of death – it's all based on the moment when the heart stops. Once that happens, blood no longer circulates to the brain, which means brain function halts almost instantaneously. You lose all your brain stem reflexes – your gag reflex, your pupil reflex, all that is gone.”

 

However, there’s evidence to suggest that there’s a burst of brain energy as someone dies. In 2013 researchers at the University of Michigan looked at the electrical signals inside the brains of nine anaesthetised rats having an induced heart attack. They saw activity patterns which are linked to a “hyper-alerted state” in the brief period after clinical death.

 

Dr Parnia said:

“In the same way that a group of researchers might be studying the qualitative nature of the human experience of 'love', for instance, we're trying to understand the exact features that people experience when they go through death, because we understand that this is going to reflect the universal experience we're all going to have when we die.”

 

http://www.thescienceandspace.com/2019/11/after-death-youre-aware-that-youve-died.html?m=1

[Guest Guest]

I'm not at all surprised. Just because your heart stops beating doesn't mean your brain is not working. And even if your brain is not thinking, does not mean you do not know what is going on. Some people think they can drop their pretence of being a filial son or daughter just because the doctor had pronounced the parent as dead. They think they are can stop putting on a show just because the Director had called the cut. They are really so wrong. 

[Steve5380]

If we remain conscious a short time after death,  ...  what difference does this make?

Death ends everything in this world,  assuming that there is no supernatural.

We may be conscious about something right before we fall asleep,

but we only know about this... after we wake up.  The dead don't wake up!

[LeanMature]

Dr Parnia said something that already made known 2000+ years ago by Buddhism.

[FattChoy]

So scary....can get heart attack and die.  Except, you're not James Bond and can Die Twice.

[Steve5380]

9 hours ago, Chukie Guido said:

This IS NOT death...and it does NOT prove that after you are dead you are conscious. I think the title of your post and probably the claim by this 'scientist' is mostly sensational and just to get headlines.  It is certainly interesting to analyze these people who have experienced temporary (NOT permanent) blood flow stoppages, but again they are NOT dead unless they never were revived.

 

 

Exactly.  What this doctor finds is simply that the characterization of death as the time the heart stops beating is premature. 

 

It seems that every person who dies takes the experience of dying with him/her.  

I don't even think that the Buddha knew what this experience is,  and we won't ever know what his own experience was

unless he comes back one day and tells us about it.

[Guest Wayne]

On 12/1/2019 at 7:22 AM, Guest Dr. Parnia said:

Death just became even more scary: scientists say people are aware they’re dead because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped showing signs of life. That means that, theoretically, someone may even hear their own death being announced by medics.

The claim was made by Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York City.

 

He and his team are looking at people who suffered cardiac arrest, technically died, but were later revived. It’s the largest study of its type ever carried out. Some of those studied say they had awareness of full conversations and seeing things that were going on around them, even after they were pronounced dead.

 

These accounts were then verified by the medical and nursing staff who were present at the time. Death is defined as the point at which the heart no longer beats, and blood flow to the brain is cut off.

 

Dr Sam Parnia said:

“Technically, that's how you get the time of death – it's all based on the moment when the heart stops. Once that happens, blood no longer circulates to the brain, which means brain function halts almost instantaneously. You lose all your brain stem reflexes – your gag reflex, your pupil reflex, all that is gone.”

 

However, there’s evidence to suggest that there’s a burst of brain energy as someone dies. In 2013 researchers at the University of Michigan looked at the electrical signals inside the brains of nine anaesthetised rats having an induced heart attack. They saw activity patterns which are linked to a “hyper-alerted state” in the brief period after clinical death.

 

Dr Parnia said:

“In the same way that a group of researchers might be studying the qualitative nature of the human experience of 'love', for instance, we're trying to understand the exact features that people experience when they go through death, because we understand that this is going to reflect the universal experience we're all going to have when we die.”

 

http://www.thescienceandspace.com/2019/11/after-death-youre-aware-that-youve-died.html?m=1

 

This could be true. My grabdpa had a near death experience. He was in a coma for 2 years but he said he can still us. He survived.

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, Guest Wayne said:

 

This could be true. My grabdpa had a near death experience. He was in a coma for 2 years but he said he can still us. He survived.

 

He can still WHAT?

[Guest Guest]

On 12/5/2019 at 11:02 PM, Steve5380 said:

 

He can still WHAT?

Maybe he meant He can still HEAR us

[Steve5380]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:39 PM, Guest Guest said:

Maybe he meant He can still HEAR us

 

On 11/30/2019 at 5:22 PM, Guest Dr. Parnia said:

 

Death just became even more scary: scientists say people are aware they’re dead because their consciousness continues to work after the body has stopped showing signs of life. That means that, theoretically, someone may even hear their own death being announced by medics.

The claim was made by Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York City.

 

He and his team are looking at people who suffered cardiac arrest, technically died, but were later revived. It’s the largest study of its type ever carried out. Some of those studied say they had awareness of full conversations and seeing things that were going on around them, even after they were pronounced dead.

 

 

This is very interesting, and not scary at all.  What is said is that after the heart stops and blood circulation ends,  the brain may still be functioning and responding to the sense of hearing.   This gives a possibility that people who are unconscious, in a coma, can still receive auditory signals. If this matters, this means that there is still consciousness in the brain and this can be verified if the person recovers consciousness thereafter and can communicate. 

 

But if the person never regains consciousness, not even in a supernatural, there is no way to know this and it does not have any importance.