A team of Canadian scientists proved that the brain can continue to function 10 minutes after death was pronounced.
Death had always been one of the biggest enigmas of medical science And, as fate would have, each time we think we’re getting closer to find an answer, reality comes around and slaps us in the face. A recent study written by a team of Canadian researchers shows that, in certain circumstances, the human brain can continue to function up to ten minutes after death was pronounced. The results could not be replicated.
A team of Canadian scientists from the University of Western Ontario believes that they might have the answer to the question: how long does the brain continue after the cessation of all vital functions? Before the Canadian study was published, doctors believe that brain stays active approximately one minute after the cessation of arterial blood pressure and cardiac rhythm.
However, the new study proves that not only we don’t know enough about death, but, under special circumstances, the brain can keep on going long after the patient was pronounced dead.
During their study, the Canadian team revealed that, in one case, the patient’s EEG continued to record brain activity ten minutes after his heart stopped pumping blood. What’s even more bizarre is the fact that the brain waves picked up by the EEG machine had the same amplitude as delta waves – brain waves associated with deep sleep.
However, while studying the brain scans of three more patients who were pronounced dead, the Canadian did not observe the same delta wave activity. Moreover, it would seem that during the latest lab trials, the patients’ brain activities abruptly stopped one minute after their hearts ceased pumping blood.
Freak accident or the first step in solving the mystery of death? The team is inclined to believe that it was rather a rare occurrence rather than a scientific reality. Since they were not able to obtain the same results, the team concluded that it might have something wrong with the EEG machine which monitored the brain activity of the first patient.
But upon checking the machine, the researchers could not find anything wrong with it. Hence, the only conclusion is that the readings were the result of a very rare phenomenon. One of the scientists said that the results of this study could open up new avenues of investigation.
Is death something unique and intimate? The Canadian team answered that yes, each individual experiences death in a unique way.
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