Near-death experiences are a reality

Near-death experiences are a reality Brain Patterns Of Clinically Dead Rats Same As In Hyper-Alert State: Study Washington: Light at the end of the tunnel! Near-death experiences may not be just a figment of imagination, a new study suggests.     For the first time, scientists have observed brain activity in dying rats that may shed light on the mystery of human near-death experiences. The “near-death experience” reported by cardiac arrest survivors worldwide may be grounded in science, according to research at the University of Michigan.     The study shows shortly after clinical death, in which the heart stops beating and blood stops flowing to the brain, rats display brain activity patterns characteristic of conscious perception. They said the brain patterns were associated with “a hyper-alerted state”. “This study is the first dealing with what happens to the neurophysiological state of the dying brain,” said lead study author Jimo Borjigin. “It will form the foundation for future human studies,” she said.     Approximately 20% of cardiac arrest survivors report having had a near-death experience during clinical death. These visions and perceptions have been called “realer than real,” researchers said.     “We reasoned that if neardeath experience stems from brain activity, neural correlates of consciousness should be identifiable in humans or animals even after the cessation of cerebral blood flow,” she said. Researchers analyzed the recordings of brain activity called electroencephalograms (EEGs) from nine anaesthetized rats undergoing experimentally induced cardiac arrest.     Within the first 30 seconds after cardiac arrest, all of the rats displayed a widespread, transient surge of highly synchronized brain activity that had features associated with a highly aroused brain. “But, we were surprised by the high levels of activity,” adds study senior author anaesthesiologist George Mashour.     The brain is assumed to be inactive during cardiac arrest. However the neurophysiological state of the brain immediately following cardiac arrest had not been systemically investigated until now. PTI