Does life flash before our eyes?

[Thomas]

New data from a scientific "accident" has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die, reports the BBC website

A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack - offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain.

It revealed that in the 30 seconds before and after, the man's brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.

Brain activity of this sort could suggest that a final "recall of life" may occur in a person's last moments, the team wrote in their study, published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on Tuesday.

Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, said: "If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things," he said.

"But what's memorable would be different for every person."

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A surge of electrical activity in the brain could be responsible for the vivid experiences described by near-death survivors, scientists report.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

[RJM]

When my Dad was close to dying, as I sat beside his bed, he told me his whole life was reeling through his mind, God bless him

 

[wil]

My memories are instigated by external and come rolling in. It makes the days go quick.

 

[Namaste Jesus]

Shoot, my life's memories have been passing before my eyes for a good many years now.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Yeah, Namaste Jesus, flashbacks happen all the time. So, the last one before we go.
I am in complete agreement with the observation rather than believe in locus-pocus.

 

[Unveiled artist]

New data from a scientific "accident" has suggested that life may actually flash before our eyes as we die, reports the BBC website

A team of scientists set out to measure the brainwaves of an 87-year-old patient who had developed epilepsy. But during the neurological recording, he suffered a fatal heart attack - offering an unexpected recording of a dying brain.

It revealed that in the 30 seconds before and after, the man's brainwaves followed the same patterns as dreaming or recalling memories.

Brain activity of this sort could suggest that a final "recall of life" may occur in a person's last moments, the team wrote in their study, published in Frontiers in Ageing Neuroscience on Tuesday.

Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a co-author of the study, said: "If I were to jump to the philosophical realm, I would speculate that if the brain did a flashback, it would probably like to remind you of good things, rather than the bad things," he said.

"But what's memorable would be different for every person."

+++

A surge of electrical activity in the brain could be responsible for the vivid experiences described by near-death survivors, scientists report.

The research is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

I do think that's true...more like flicker of memories more so than a timeline of events. I also don't agree the brain would show good memories first. We remember bad experiences more than good so read. Has to do with the body's survival system and memory to avoid a next attack (the brain doesn't differentiate between a weapon to ones head or a non lethal threat...or fear from being excited).

 

[Aupmanyav]

I also don't agree the brain would show good memories first. We remember bad experiences more than good so read.

Though nothing can be said for certain, but NDE experiences in overwhelming cases are positive. Who knows if brain has some mechanism which inhibits replay of bad experiences? From what I have read, in very few cases people have reported jarring sounds. That may be some malfunction of memory.

 

[Namaste Jesus]

I've noticed that as time goes by, I tend to remember much of my past as being better than it actually was, to the point of wanting to relive it. So perhaps our perspective changes as we age. Then again, maybe just a matter of remembering the joy of being young more than what was going on at the time.

 

[Namaste Jesus]

Wonder if it's possible for someone else's life to pass before your eyes? Since Aussie's passing, I've been having vivid memories of things I never actually experienced, through the stories he shared of his upbringing. Though I wasn't actually there, he had a way of conveying a story that made you feel like you were. Speaking with his family, they'll often relate something he said or did and I find myself saying, "Oh yeah, I remember that."

 

[Aupmanyav]

I've noticed that as time goes by, I tend to remember much of my past as being better than it actually was, to the point of wanting to relive it. So perhaps our perspective changes as we age. Then again, maybe just a matter of remembering the joy of being young more than what was going on at the time.

Or relive even our mistakes, which is painful. We do it all the time, reminiscence.

Yeah, I saw my wife's grandmother die of cancer. She was gently stoking the hand of her widowed daughter-in-law, whose husband also died of cancer; and then the next moment she was no more. A very peaceful passing away. Life goes on. Now I am in the queue.