Week #16: What Happens Before Death? - Kristine Dang
Although this is the only recorded data of a brain dying, scientists have collected and compared these brainwaves with brainwaves from rats before they passed away and it showed that they produced sim
ilar results to the ones collected from this experiment. In the last 30 seconds the patient was alive, the scientists saw that his brain “followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.” This means before dying, his brain rapidly replayed memories that the scientist believed were memories of the happy times in his life. Scientists can not yet be certain that this applies to all humans and it would be difficult to collect more data, however, they will continue to observe past data to build upon this foundation.
Many questions have been raised from this discovery such as would a person with dementia recollect their memories right before they pass away? It is likely that we will never learn the answer to these questions, however, if scientists are able to collect more data naturally, we may be able to get a more accurate hypothesis on what happens before or after a brain dies.
Hey Kristine! I never thought the phrase, “I saw my life flash before my eyes” could be interpreted in a literal sense. It's a truly remarkable achievement and advancement for doctors and scientists to be able to make this observation. Given that the brain is one of the least understood and known organs in our body, any discoveries or patterns observed could lead the way to future discoveries and even treatments for neurological related diseases. Of course, while it may seem far-fetched that an observation about patients moments before dying and their memories could cure diseases, it still is a step in the right direction towards learning more about dementia. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristine! I think it's really fascinating that this phrase has actually been scientifically proven. I never thought about the fact that this phenomenon could be observed in not just humans, but other animals as well. I do wonder what we could use this discovery for and what we could understand about our brains. Whenever we make new discoveries or observations about the brain, they always give rise to many new possibilities and questions. The question about dementia you posed about is really interesting, and now I'd like to know the answer to it too!
ReplyDeleteHey Kristine! Watching my life flash before my eyes honestly just seems like it’d be a montage of me eating (my favorite thing to do is eat) and playing video games. Which is probably kind of sad but hey, what am I meant to do am I right? That aside, having a lively recap of life seems fun in my last moment. Just one more moment to see all of my greatest moments and gaze upon faces of loved ones who I may not have thought of for many many years. But on that note, it is also interesting whether this happens to everyone and also what is defined as positive. Like would a memory which at the time was negative but later something laughed at be seen as positive? Well either way thanks for this blog and see you next year :).
ReplyDeleteKristine, what an insightful blog post. I too have heard this phrase “I saw my life flash before my eyes” but like you and many others I believed it was just a saying and not real. Reading your blog post, I was shocked. I cannot believe that when we die our brain actually plays with our past memories; this has made us even more intrigued about the human mind. This new revelation raises so many questions in mind like how does it occur, can it only happen if you die due to a certain reason, etc. What a great blog post; now I shall tell my family this phrase is in fact true.
ReplyDeleteHey Kristine, I indeed do often feel a sense of nostalgia with music, especially when I listen to BTS’s album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life and Blackpink’s Kill This Love. When I listen to these songs, it does feel like my life is flashing before my eyes, as you mention in this blog. It is fascinating how the brain functions this way. I wonder if there are any other triggers besides being in a near death situation that can result in the brain replaying memories. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristene, this is a very interesting phenomenon that I hope scientists will be able to learn more about in the future. This reminded me of how there is data showing that there is still brain activity up to 7 minutes after death, which is scary but fascinating. We discover new things about our brains every day that are super interesting, although I hope that I won't have to experience my life flashing before my eyes anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristine! I have heard the phrase “I saw my life flash before my eyes” in so many novels and movies when a character has a near-death experience. However, I never thought that this phrase would have scientific truth behind it. I found the topic of your blog and the research that you mentioned to be very interesting. This field of study still seems to be surrounded by a great deal of uncertainty since, as you brought up, it is hard to gather the data necessary for the research. I wonder if we could ever get a definite answer as to what a brain thinks about right before death. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHey Kristine, the concept of memories flashing before one's death is really interesting. I have seen this concept being popularized in numerous mainstream movies; however, I always just accepted the concept as a way of dramatizing death for movie producers. But upon reading this article of yours discovering an actual scientifically recorded event of rapid flashbacks prior to one's death, it really showed to me this is beyond a dramatizing event by producers. It is very interesting to see this effect being actually present in real life.
ReplyDelete