Scientists are moving closer to a naturalistic account of near-death experiences. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that heightened brain activity can take place even after death.

Scientists are moving closer to a naturalistic account of near-death experiences. Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that heightened brain activity can take place even after death.

The research — published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences — involved using electroencephalography to monitor the brain activity of nine rats undergoing induced cardiac arrest. Researchers observed a widespread surge in transient brain activity just 30 seconds after the arrest — activity associated with information processing was ten times higher, and sensory-processing activity five times higher. Rats subjected to asphyxiation showed almost identical brain patterns. The researchers described the brain-state of the rats as one of “heightened consciousness” — akin to the experience of many patients who have experienced medical death and been revived.  According to co-author George Mashour, the results suggest “that the brain is capable of well-organized electrical activity during the early stage of clinical death.”

Research with similar findings was published by neuroscientists from the University of Kentucky in 2006. 

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