Aside from “breathing”, “sleeping”, and “putting on Troy McClure’s accent every time you say his name”, I reckon panicking about death is one of the most universal human experiences.
Obviously, part of the problem of wondering what happens when you die is that nobody with any real qualifications can answer you. But as it turns out, doctors might have some insight into what happens in the brain when we pass.
Dr. Karan Raj, a doctor who’s become well-known on TikTok for dispelling medical myths and sharing his expert knowledge, recently posted a video about the phenomenon – and it’s much more reassuring than I’d expected.
Your life might actually flash before your eyes
“This is freaky,” begins Dr. Raj, in front of a study named Enhanced Interplay Of Neuronal Coherence And Coupling In The Dying Human Brain.
The research, which examined the accidental documentation of a dying 87-year-old man’s brain, found some fascinating insights. The participant passed away from a heart attack while receiving an electroencephalography, a type of brain scan. And the scientists “accidentally recorded the brain wave patterns at the time of death,” Dr. Raj shared.
“Shortly thereafter, electrographic activity over both hemispheres demonstrated a burst suppression pattern, which was followed by (the) development of ventricular tachycardia with apneustic respirations and clinical cardiorespiratory arrest,” the study said.
Or, as Dr. Raj puts it, “These near-death brain patterns are the same as the ones we experience during dreaming, memory recall, and meditation.“
The doctor added that post-death “neural oscillations, or brain waves, which correspond to memory retrieval” could mean “that the brain might be replaying important life events around the time we die.”
In other words, your life really could flash before your eyes.
“Our data provide the first evidence from the dying human brain in a non-experimental, real-life acute care clinical setting and advocate that the human brain may possess the capability to generate coordinated activity during the near-death period,” the researchers of the study said.
Here’s the full clip: