New research has shed light onbrain activity just before and after death. What’s more, the discoveries provide a possible explanation for the __1__ recollectionspeople have during what is described as near-death experiences. Neuroscientists in the United States discovered rhythmicbrain wave patterns around the time of death, which bear a close __2__ to those that occur during dreaming, memory recall, and meditation. The study was published in 2022 in a scientific journal. It suggests that the brain may remain active during and even after the __3__ to death.
The scientists made the remarkable discovery while they were __4__ the brain activity of an 87-year-old Canadian man with epilepsy. During the course of their examination, thepatient suffered a heart attack and died. This __5__ allowed the scientists to record the activity of a dying human brain for the first time in history. While the final 900 seconds of brain activity were captured, it was the final 30 seconds before and after the man’s heart stopped __6__ that proved most fascinating. During that time, researchers observed significant changes in the man’s brain waves. Specifically, alterations in brain waves known as gammaoscillations, as well as a few other types, occurred. Those oscillations are involved in various brain __7__, such as concentrating, dreaming, meditation, memory retrieval, and information processing. According to the experts, the findings suggest that the brain may be __8__ a final recollection of important events just before a person dies, similar to the ones often described in near-death experiences.
