BRAIN//THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BRAIN AS YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE

THISISWHATHAPPENSTO YOURBRAIN ASYOUARE ABOUT TODIETHE DOCTORS WON’T SAY IT, BUT YOU CAN TELL FROM THEIR EYES - YOUR TIMEIS RUNNING OUT. AS YOU LIE IN THIS HOSPITAL BED, THE MINUTES SLIPPING AWAY, YOUR MIND ISRACING. READY OR NOT, YOU’RE ABOUT TO GO ON THE BIGGEST MYSTERY THAT HUMANITYHAS NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SOLVE - INTO THE UNKNOWN OFDEATH. TIME SEEMS TO SLOW DOWN IN YOUR LAST MOMENTS, AS YOU BECOME MORE AWARE OF EVERY SENSATION. YOU CAN FEEL YOUR BREATH STARTING TO SLOW DOWN, AND YOU WONDER IF YOU’LL KNOW WHEN YOU’RE DYING, OR IF YOU’LL JUST...SLIP AWAY QUIETLY. WILL IT BE PAINFUL? WILL YOU DISCOVER WHAT LIES BEYOND THIS MORTAL COIL? OR WILL IT JUST BE LIKE GOING TO SLEEP? WHILE YOUR BODY IS DYING, WHAT’S YOUR BRAIN DOING? WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BRAIN WHILE THE BODY IS BREATHING ITS LAST? THE HUMAN BRAIN. 3.3 POUNDS OF TISSUE, A MIX OFGRAY MATTER AND WHITE MATTER, THAT SERVES AS THE CONTROL CENTER FOR THE ENTIRE BODY. COMPOSED OF COUNTLESS NERVE CELLS AND DIVIDED INTO FOUR LOBES - THE FRONTAL, TEMPORAL, PARIETAL, AND OCCIPITAL LOBES - IT HANDLESTHE SENSES AND ALL MENTAL FUNCTIONS. IT LEADS INTO THE BRAIN STEM, WHICH CONTROLS THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE ORGANS LIKE THE CIRCULATORY AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS; THE SPINAL CORD, WHICH CONTROLS MOTOR FUNCTION, AND THE MILLIONS OF NERVES THAT CONTROLEVERY LITTLE FUNCTION IN THE BODY. THE BRAIN IS LIKE THE GENERAL COMMANDING AN ARMY OF COUNTLESS SOLDIERS IN YOUR BODY, SO IT’S NOT A SURPRISE THAT YOU CAN’TSURVIVE WITHOUT IT IN WORKING ORDER. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BRAINAT THE MOMENT OF DEATH? THAT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU’RE DYING. THE FIRST SITUATION IS WHEN THE BRAIN KILLS THE BODY. THIS IS WHEN THE BRAIN SUSTAINS A MASSIVE INJURYTHAT MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR IT TO SUSTAIN THE BODY. THIS HAPPENS WHEN THE BRAIN IS PIERCED BY A BULLET, HIT BY A LARGE BLUNTOBJECT LIKE A FALLING ROCK, OR IS BADLYCONCUSSED IN A CAR ACCIDENT OR SPORTS GAME. IT CAN ALSO HAPPEN NONVIOLENTLY WHEN A BLOOD VESSEL BURSTS IN THE BRAIN, CAUSING A STROKE OR BRAIN ANEURYSM THAT FLOODS THE BRAIN, DROWNING THE VITAL NERVES THAT KEEP THINGS RUNNING. IN CASES LIKE THIS, THE BRAIN SHUTS DOWN QUICKLY, OFTEN BEFORE THE BODY REALIZES WHAT HAPPENS. THERE’S NO TIME TO PROCESS WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE MOMENTOF DEATH BECAUSE THE BRAIN IS THE FIRST TO GO, AND THE BODY SOON FOLLOWS. SOMETIMES THE LOWER-BRAIN FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAIN STEM AREPRESERVED, AND THIS IS CALLED BRAIN DEATH. THE BODY IS TECHNICALLY ALIVE, BUT THERE’S NO CONSCIOUSNESS LEFT AND THE PERSON IS USUALLY TAKEN OFF LIFE SUPPORT SHORTLY. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BODY IS THE FIRST TO GO? THE BRAIN NEEDS THE BODY TO BE FUNCTIONING SO IT CAN GET THE LIFE-SUSTAINING OXYGEN ITNEEDS TO KEEP RUNNING. IF THE BODY CAN’T BREATHE AND THE CIRCULATORY SYSTEM CAN’TGET BLOOD TO THE BRAIN, THE THE BRAIN WILL START STARVINGAND EVENTUALLY DIE. THIS IS COMMON WHEN OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY ARE INJURED, SUCH AS A WOUND TO A CRITICAL ORGAN. IT CAN ALSO BE CAUSED BY A HEART ATTACK, AN ILLNESS LIKE CANCER, OR OLD AGE AS THE BODY’S ORGANS START TO SLOW DOWN AND WEAR OUT. THERE ARE MORE CHANCES FOR MEDICAL INTERVENTIONTO SAVE A LIFE IN THIS CASE, BUT THERE’S ONLY SO MUCH DOCTORS CANDO AND EVENTUALLY TIME WILL RUN OUT. THIS IS WHEN THE BRAIN SHUTS DOWN SLOWLY, AND PEOPLE EXPERIENCE THE SENSATION OF DYING WHILE FULLY CONSCIOUS. BUT HOW WILL WE KNOW WHAT PEOPLE EXPERIENCE? NO ONE’S BEEN THERE AND BACK...OR HAVE THEY? MANY PEOPLE HAVE CLAIMEDTO HAVE NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES WHEN THEY CAME CLOSE TO DEATH BUT WERE PULLED BACK. THIS IS COMMON WHEN SOMEONE HASA TRAUMATIC AND SUDDEN PHYSICAL AILMENT THAT BRINGS THEM TO THE POINT OF DEATH, AND ALWAYS INVOLVES THE BODY BUT NOT THE BRAIN. SURVIVORS OF HEART ATTACKS, SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS, SURGICAL COMPLICATIONS, OR CAR ACCIDENTS OFTEN RECALL MAKING CONTACT WITH SOMETHING THEY BELIEVE IS THE AFTERLIFE. DOCTORS SAY THIS IS THE RESULT OF THE LACK OF OXYGEN TO THE BRAIN, CAUSING HYPOXIA AND HALLUCINATIONS THAT FEEL ESPECIALLY INTENSE GIVEN THE TRAUMA OF THE EXPERIENCE. BUT WHAT DO THEY SEE - AND IS IT PROOF THAT DEATH IS NOT THE END OFTHE ROAD? MOST OF THE PEOPLE WHO REPORT THIS PHENOMENON ARE DEEPLY RELIGIOUS AND ARE INTENSELY CONVINCED THEY MADE CONTACT WITH HEAVEN - OR SOMEWHERE ELSE. WHEN THREE-YEAR-OLD COLTON BURPO UNDERWENT EMERGENCY SURGERY FOR A BURST APPENDIX, HENEARLY DIED ON THE OPERATING TABLE - AND CAME BACK WITH INCREDIBLE STORIES OF WHAT HEAVEN WAS LIKE, INCLUDING DETAILS OF LONG-DEAD RELATIVES HE COULDN’THAVE KNOWN. HE AND HIS FATHER WROTE A BOOK, “HEAVEN IS FOR REAL” , ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE, BUT MANY CRITICS SAY THERE ARE HOLES IN THE STORY AND COLTON WAS NEVER CLINICALLY DEAD DURING THE SURGERY. ANOTHER BOY WITH A SIMILAR STORY, ALEX MALARKEY, LATER REVISED HIS OWN CLAIMS AS A TEENAGER. PARALYZED IN A TERRIBLE CAR CRASH AS A CHILD, HE WOKE UP FROM A COMA AND CLAIMED HE HADBEEN CARRIED BY AN ANGEL DURINGHIS NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE. BUT IN 2015, HE CLAIMED THATHE HAD MADE THE WHOLE INCIDENT UP AND HAD NEVER EVEN READ THE BIBLE AT THE TIME OF HISINJURY. BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHOSAW...THE OTHER PLACE? WHEN MATTHEW BOTSFORD WALKED OUT OF A RESTAURANT AND INTO THE MIDDLE OF A GUN BATTLE IN 1992, HE WAS STRUCK BY A BULLET AND WOUND UP IN A COMA. HE CLAIMED TO WIND UP IN A PLACE OF TOTAL BLACKNESS AND HORROR, UNTIL HE WAS LIFTED OUT OF THERE BY A FIGURE HE BELIEVED WAS GOD, AND RETURNED TO HIS BODY. HE WOKE UP AFTER TWENTYSEVEN DAYS AND RECOVERED OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD, AND HE AND HIS WIFE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT HIS CLOSEENCOUNTER WITH HELL - BUT DOCTORS ARE EVEN MORE SKEPTICAL ABOUT HIS STORY BECAUSE OF THE ADDED FACTOR OF HIS BRAININJURY. THE BRAIN IS A COMPLEX ORGAN, AND A BULLET INSIDE IT DURING A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE COULD EASILY CONJURE UP SOME HORRIFYING VISUALS FOR THE VICTIM. THE SURVIVORS OF NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES HAVE THEIR BELIEFS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AT THE POINT OF DEATH, BUT WHAT DO SCIENTISTS SAY? EVER SINCE THE TECHNOLOGY WAS AVAILABLE, SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN STUDYING THE MOMENT OF DEATH FOR CLUES TO WHAT HAPPENS TO PEOPLE.WHILE NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT THE DYING IS EXPERIENCING AND WHETHER IT POINTS TO SOMETHING BIGGER, THEY HAVE OBSERVED SOMEAMAZING PATTERNS IN BRAIN ACTIVITY. USING EEG, OR ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM TECHNOLOGY, TO TRACK ACTIVITY IN THE BRAIN, THEY’VE DISCOVERED THAT BRAIN ACTIVITY ACTUALLY FLARES AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH. WHEN RESEARCHERS TESTED THE BRAIN ACTIVITY OF RATS THAT WERE EUTHANIZED, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE ANIMALS’ CONSCIOUSNESS WAS EVEN MORE ALERT AND INTENSE THAN THE NORMAL WAKING STATE. WITHIN THIRTY SECONDS OF AN INDUCED CARDIAC ARREST, THE BRAIN GOES INTO OVERDRIVE. THIS IMPLIES SOMETHING SHOCKING - THE BRAIN DOESN’T DIE WHEN THE BODY DOES. HOW LONG CAN THE BRAIN SURVIVE AFTER BODY FUNCTIONS STOP? MOST SCIENTISTS BELIEVED IT WAS ONLY SECONDS, BUT DOCTORSAT A CANADIAN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT DISCOVERED SOMETHING DISTURBING WHILE WORKING WITH TERMINALLY ILL PATIENTS IN2018. AFTER LIFE SUPPORT WAS TURNED OFF FOR FOUR PATIENTS AND THEYWERE DECLARED DEAD, ONE OF THE PATIENTS’ EEG CONTINUEDTO SHOW BRAIN ACTIVITY FOR UP TO TEN MINUTES. THERE WAS NO PULSE, AND THE PUPILS DIDN’T REACT WHEN TESTED WITH LIGHT, BUT THE PATIENT’S BRAIN ACTIVITY RESEMBLED THE SAME FREQUENCY AS DEEP SLEEP. DOES THE BODY SIMPLY PUT THEBRAIN TO SLEEP AND LET IT EXPIRE QUIETLY DURING A NONTRAUMATIC DEATH - OR IS THE DYING PERSON EXPERIENCING SOMETHING MORE INTENSE? ONE THEORY ABOUT THE BRAIN AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH IS CALLED “THE DARK WAVE”. FIRST OBSERVED IN 1940 IN EXPERIMENTS ON RABBITS, IT INDICATES THAT WHEN THE BRAIN IS INJURED, IT STARTS TO SPREAD BRAIN DEATH OUT FROM THE INJURED SPOT. BRAIN FUNCTIONS GO DOWN ONE BY ONE, DROWNING THE BRAIN IN A DEEP WAVE OF DEPRESSION AS BRAIN ACTIVITY SLOWLY DECREASES. THIS WOULD MEAN THE FINAL MOMENTS OF BRAIN FUNCTION ARE LIKELY CONFUSING, DISORIENTING, AND MARKED BY AN INCREASING LOSS OF AWARENESS. THIS IS MOST COMMON WITH DEATH CAUSED BY BRAIN INJURY, BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE BRAIN IS EXPIRING DUE TO THE LOSS OF BODY FUNCTIONS? ANOTHER THEORY PROPOSES A MUCH MORE OPTIMISTIC VIEWOF OUR LAST MOMENTS. MANY PEOPLE HAVE OBSERVED THAT THOSE DYING, EVEN THOSEIN PALLIATIVE CARE AS THEY EXPIRE FROM TERRIBLE ILLNESSES, HAVE A PEACEFUL OR EVEN EUPHORIC EXPRESSION ON THEIR FACE IN THEIR LAST HOURS. A STUDY OF RATS AT THE MOMENT OF DEATH INDICATED THAT THE LEVELS OF SEROTONIN IN THE BLOOD TRIPLED IN THEIR LAST MINUTES. SEROTONIN IS A CHEMICAL BELIEVED TO CONTRIBUTE TO FEELINGS OF HAPPINESS, AND IT’S MATCHED BY THE POWERFUL ENDORPHINSWHICH HAVE THE SAME EFFECT. IF ONE OF THE BODY’S LAST FUNCTIONS, AS IT SHUTS DOWN, ISTO RELEASE THESE CHEMICALS, IT’S LIKELY THAT THEY TAKE AWAYTHE PAIN AND FEAR OF DEATH ANDALLOW THE PERSON TO PASS PEACEFULLY, ENJOYING A NATURAL HIGH THAT TAKES THE EDGE OFF THOSE LAST MOMENTS. BUT WHAT’S GOING THROUGH THE MIND IN THOSE LAST MOMENTS? ARE PEOPLE TOO FAR GONE - OR DOTHEY STILL KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON AROUND THEM? THE QUESTION OF AWARENESS AROUND AND EVEN AFTER THE MOMENT OF CLINICAL DEATH HAS BEEN PUZZLING SCIENTISTS FOR MANY YEARS, AND NEW STUDIES INDICATE THAT A PERSON’S CONSCIOUSNESS CAN PERSIST EVEN AFTER BODILY FUNCTIONS STOP.

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