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The Neuroscientist Jimo Borjigin From The University Of Michigan Discovered That The Human Brain Displays Intense Activity During Death.
In an interview with BBB News, she explained that the discovery occurred by chance, a little over a decade ago, while studying neurochemical secretions in rats in a laboratory.
During one of the experiments, the team observed a massive secretion of serotonin in rats during the process of dying, which prompted a deeper investigation into brain activity at this critical moment.
“One of the rats showed a massive secretion of serotonin,” the neuroscientist explained, adding that the unexpected discovery revealed how much is still unknown about the brain during the dying process.
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The team observed that, during death, the serotonin levels in the rats increased by 60 times, while dopamine, a chemical associated with the sense of well-being, increased by 40 to 60 times.
Additionally, norepinephrine, which puts the body in a state of alertness, also saw a significant increase. These elevated levels indicate hyperactive brain function, contrary to what was previously believed.
Gamma Waves In Human Patients
In 2023, a study focused on four comatose patients revealed that two of them exhibited high brain activity, with gamma waves associated with cognitive functions, moments before they died.
“In both studies, 100% of the animals showed intense activation of brain function,” the specialist pointed out. This discovery challenges the idea that the brain becomes hypoactive during death.
According to the neuroscientist, in humans, only certain parts of the brain are activated during death, such as the temporo-parietal-occipital junction and Wernicke’s area, areas associated with the conscious functions of the brain.
One of these areas is known as the “posterior cortical hot zone,” which is the temporo-parietal-occipital junction (TPO), where the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes interconnect. “It’s the back part of your brain responsible for sensory perception,” she explains.
This area is associated with consciousness, as well as dreams and visual hallucinations. Another area observed was Wernicke’s area, related to language, speech, and hearing. “We demonstrated that the temporal lobe on both sides is the most activated part.”
Located near our ears, this section is very important not only for memory storage but also for other cognitive functions. The professor also notes that the right-sided temporo-parietal junction of the brain has been linked to the development of empathy.
In this regard, she explains that “many patients who survived cardiac arrests and had near-death experiences report that these experiences changed them for the better, that they feel more empathy.”
Challenges To The Traditional View Of Brain Death
This new understanding challenges the traditional view of brain death and points to the need for more research. “The historic focus on death being centered on the heart led to the idea that the brain ceases to function when someone experiences cardiac arrest,” the neuroscientist explained. “We are trying to understand this, there is little literature, and it’s not well understood,” she added.
Jimo Borjigin’s research shows that the brain does not give up easily and can have intense activity during death. This new understanding could have significant implications for medicine and how we determine clinical death.
“We need to investigate, discover, and understand this because we could be making premature death diagnoses in millions of people, as we do not understand the mechanism of death,” concluded Jimo Borjigin.
Finally, she also acknowledges that her study in humans is very limited and that much more research is needed on what occurs in the brain when we are dying. However, she emphasizes that after more than a decade of studying the subject, one thing is clear: “Instead of being hypoactive, the brain becomes hyperactive during cardiac arrest.”
“It is crucial to improve our understanding of brain function during such a crisis,” she notes, adding that indeed, her view is that this increase in brain activity observed in her studies is part of the brain’s survival mechanism when deprived of oxygen.
“Superficially, we know that there are people who suffer cardiac arrest and have this incredible subjective experience, and our data show that this experience is due to increased brain activity,” she states. “But the question is: why does a dying brain have such intense activity?” she concludes.
“We need to investigate, discover, and understand this because we could be making premature death diagnoses in millions of people,” as we do not understand the mechanism of death,” concludes the neuroscientist.
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