In a four year study, researching more than 2,000 patients who have suffered cardiac arrests, scientists discovered that consciousness many continue after death.
The extensive study was conducted at the University of Southampton, with research spanning cases at 15 hospitals in the UK, US and Austria, according to the Daily Mail. In more than 2000 patients it was found that the awareness and mind may continue to exist even after the brain has permanently reached shutdown mode and the body is clinically dead.
Dr Sam Parnia, a former Southampton University research fellow now based at the State University of New York, who led the study, said: “The evidence thus far suggests that in the first few minutes after death, consciousness is not annihilated.
“Whether it fades away afterwards, we do not know, but right after death, consciousness is not lost.”
The scientists heard one man recall leaving his body entirely, watching his resuscitation from the corner of the room.
The 57-year-old social worker from Southampton was ‘dead’ for three minutes yet managed to recount detailed actions of the nursing staff and the sound of the machines.
The finding revealed that 40 per cent of those who survived cardiac arrest experienced some kind of awareness during the time they were presumed clinically dead and before their hearts were restarted.
Dr Parnia said: “We know the brain can’t function when the heart has stopped beating.
“But in this case conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes into the period when the heart wasn’t beating, even though the brain typically shuts down within 20-30 seconds after the heart has stopped.
“This is significant, since it has often been assumed that experiences in relation to death are likely hallucinations or illusions, occurring either before the heart stops or after the heart has been successfully restarted, but not an experience corresponding with ‘real’ events when the heart isn’t beating.
“Furthermore, the detailed recollections of visual awareness in this case were consistent with verified events.”
A total of 2,060 cardiac arrest patients were studied. Of that number, 330 survived and 140 said that had been partly aware at the time of resuscitating, Daily Mail reported.
39 per cent of patients, who survived cardiac arrest and partook in an interview recalled feeling an acute sense of awareness, but did not have any explicit memory of event to connect the dots.
“This suggests more people may have mental activity initially but then lose their memories after recovery, either due to the effects of brain injury or sedative drugs on memory recall,” said Dr Parnia.
Among the conclusive study of participants who recalled awareness and completed further interviews, 46 per cent experienced a broad range of mental recollections that were not consistent with the common near-death experience. They included fear and persecution.
Nearly 90 per cent of participants had experiences generally associated with near-death experience, while 2 per cent exhibited full awareness and out-of-body experience.
They explicitly talked about ‘seeing or hearing’ things after their hearts had stopped.
One in five described feeling an unusual sense of peacefulness in the moments after death.
Others admitted to seeing bright light or gold flash image often featured in Hollywood Cinema.
A third had said either time moved quickly or slowed down. Some described more unpleasant manifestations of fear of drowning or being dragged through water.
Dr Parna said the number of people that experienced close encounter with death would have been higher had they not been administered drugs and sedatives.
The study was launched in 2008 following a successful 18-month pilot phase at selected hospitals in the UK.
It allowed the research to be expanded to include other centres within the UK, mainland Europe and North America.
Dr Parnia added: “Contrary to perception, death is not a specific moment but a potentially reversible process that occurs after any severe illness or accident causes the heart, lungs and brain to cease functioning.
“If attempts are made to reverse this process, it is referred to as ‘cardiac arrest'; however, if these attempts do not succeed it is called death.
“In this study we wanted to go beyond the emotionally charged yet poorly defined term of near death experiences to explore objectively what happens when we die.
“While it was not possible to absolutely prove the reality or meaning of patients’ experiences and claims of awareness, (due to the very low incidence – two per cent – of explicit recall of visual awareness or so called out of body experiences), it was impossible to disclaim them either and more work is needed in this area.
“Clearly, the recalled experience surrounding death now merits further genuine investigation without prejudice.”
