Scientists at the University of Southampton have found evidence that consciousness does not leave a person at least a few minutes after clinical death. Previously, this was considered impossible. Some patients report that after cardiac arrest, they saw bright light: golden flashes of lightning or sunshine.
Death is the depressing but inevitable ending of life. But scientists believe that they may be able to find the "light at the end of the tunnel."
In the largest medical study of near-death experience, it was possible to make a discovery: consciousness can persist even after the brain ceases to function. This topic was controversial some time ago and caused skepticism among many.
But scientists at the University of Swuthampton spent four years observing more than 2,000 clinical death survivors in 15 hospitals in the UK, USA and Australia. And they found that about 40% of the survivors described something like being aware of what was happening while their hearts weren't beating.
One person even recalled that he seemed to have left his body and watched from the corner of the ward as they tried to reanimate him. Despite the loss of consciousness and a three-minute clinical death, the 57-year-old social worker from Southampton was able to describe in detail the actions of medical personnel and even the sounds of cars.
Former researcher at the University of Southampton, current fellow at State University of New York, Dr. Sam Parnia says the following:
“We know that the brain cannot function when the heart is not beating. But in the mentioned case, it turned out that awareness of what is happening can continue for about three minutes after cardiac arrest, despite the fact that 20-30 seconds after that, the brain is no longer able to perform its functions. The man described everything that was happening in the room. But the most important thing is that he heard the sirens of two cars at intervals of three minutes. Therefore, we were able to record how long consciousness persists.
Out of 2060 patients, 330 survived after cardiac arrest, 140 of them, and this is 39%, said that they experienced a certain awareness during resuscitation. And although not everyone could remember specific details, certain experiences did take place. Every fifth of the respondents said that at that moment he felt an unusual feeling of peace. Almost a third of patients said that time for them seemed to accelerate or, conversely, slowed down.
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Some talked about seeing bright light: golden flashes of lightning or sunshine. Others recalled the feeling of fear, as if they were drowning, someone was dragging them deep under the water. 13% of patients felt that they had left their bodies, about the same - that they took off."
Dr. Parnia suggests that many more people felt something similar when they were close to death, but the drugs used in the resuscitation process did not allow them to remember it.
“Observations showed that millions of people experienced vivid experiences close to death, but there was no scientific evidence for this. Many people also thought they were hallucinations or illusions, but their plots are so close to reality.
Brain damage as a result of clinical death could also become a factor preventing a person from remembering their near-death experiences. Such experiences need further research."
Dr. David Wilde, a practical psychologist at Nottingham Trent University, is currently collecting information on near-death experiences, trying to find a link between each of the episodes. He hopes that the results of upcoming research will inspire students to tackle such a controversial topic.
“Most of the studies are very retrospective, they were conducted 10-20 years ago. But scientists manage to find more and more examples, so there is a lot of work to be done. There is strong evidence that near-death experiences do occur after a person dies medically. But we do not yet understand what exactly happens when a person dies. We sincerely hope that this study will help illuminate this topic from a scientific point of view."
Dr. Parnia and his colleagues are to be congratulated on completing an exciting study that marked the beginning of a further, more detailed study of what happens to us after death."
The study was published in the journal Resuscitation. The editor-in-chief of this publication, Dr. Jerry Nolan, says:
"Dr. Parnia and his colleagues should be congratulated on completing an exciting study that paved the way for a further, more detailed study of what happens to us after death."
Svetlana Belova