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Neuroscientists Learn More About the ‘Wave of Death’ of Consciousness
They’ve pinpointed its source and discovered it can be reversed.
For whatever reason, I’ve always been more curious about where we came from before birth than where we go when we die, even as a kid. But I seem to be an outlier. Most people are concerned about death. Despite many theories and countless religions, humanity may never know the answers to either question — not while still alive, anyway.
The movies make it seem like death occurs practically, and sometimes literally, with the flip of a switch — the flat line on a heart monitor, a character can’t find a pulse, someone takes their last breath — and then it’s all done. But unsurprisingly, reality is more complicated. We may not know what happens after we die, but scientists are learning quite a bit about what happens while we die.
Point of Death
Generally speaking, death has a pretty universally defined state characterized by a complete and irreversible termination of bodily functions. Meaning there’s no pulse, no brain activity, and pupils don’t respond to light.
But from a neurological perspective, death is a tricky concept to define. A growing body of research suggests that death isn’t so much a flip of a switch…
