The Neuroscience of Death 🎃
What Happens to the Brain After We Die? (8min Read)
TL;DR Summary:
After the heart stops, the brain experiences a final burst of activity, including high-frequency gamma waves associated with concentration, memory, and dreaming.
This activity may explain the "life-flashing-before-your-eyes" phenomenon, as the brain might replay significant memories in its last moments.
The popular theory that DMT is released at death remains unsupported by solid scientific evidence.
This final brain surge challenges traditional views of consciousness, suggesting that awareness may persist for a short time after clinical death.
Cultural and spiritual beliefs, emphasize death as a transition rather than an end, aligning with the scientific view of the brain's last spark.
The Moment Before the Darkness
It’s still a spooky season, so I figured why not keep the eerie neuroscience topics rolling?
And what better spooky season topic could there be besides death?
Death has long been seen as a mystery—a final, irreversible end where life simply ceases.
But is it truly an abrupt stop, or could there be something more?
Neuroscientific research has begun to reveal a more complex picture: your brain doesn’t just “turn off” when your heart stops beating.
Instead, there is one last burst of activity, a "final spark," before everything fades to black.
What happens in this spark? How do we even know these kinds of things?
All great questions, and they will all be answered today!
Let’s dive in. 🎃
The Brain’s Last Moments: A Burst of Life
Imagine your brain as a city: busy streets (neural pathways), electrical lines (neurons firing), and constant communication keeping everything moving.
When the heart stops, the brain loses its supply of oxygen and nutrients, like cutting off electricity to that city.
But instead of an immediate blackout, there’s a brief, intense surge in power—a final burst of brain activity.
This surge has been detected in both animal and human studies.
After the heart stops, researchers observe a spike in high-frequency gamma waves, the same brain waves associated with deep concentration, memory recall, and dreaming.
It’s as if the brain, in its last attempt to stay alive, is firing all its circuits one final time.
Gamma Waves and Life’s Final Flash
Why would the brain fire up like this?
One theory points to the "life-flashing-before-your-eyes" phenomenon, which many people report in near-death experiences.
High-frequency gamma waves are often linked to memory retrieval, and some neuroscientists suggest that during this final burst, the brain may replay significant life events—much like watching a highlight reel of your most meaningful moments.
It's as if the brain, in its dying moments, is trying to make sense of everything, possibly even giving you one last chance to review your life before the final curtain falls.
This idea lines up with reports from people who’ve had near-death experiences, recounting visions of their childhood, significant moments, or even interactions with deceased loved ones.
The Myth of DMT at Death
A popular theory circulating in both scientific and spiritual communities is that the brain releases large amounts of DMT (dimethyltryptamine), a powerful hallucinogen, at the moment of death, potentially causing vivid hallucinations or near-death visions.
DMT is naturally produced in small amounts by the pineal gland and is thought to play a role in dreaming and altered states of consciousness.
Some researchers, like Dr. Rick Strassman, have speculated that the brain releases DMT during death to trigger these dreamlike experiences.
However, as captivating as this theory is, the science behind it remains thin.
While DMT has been found in the brain, there is no direct evidence showing that it’s released in significant amounts at death.
The small quantities present aren’t enough to explain the intense, vivid experiences associated with near-death visions.
The Science Behind the Final Surge
So, if not DMT, what is responsible for this burst of brain activity?
The answer might be more mechanical than mystical.
As the brain senses a lack of oxygen, it may enter a survival mode, attempting to reboot itself by firing neurons in an effort to preserve life.
This activity might also be driven by the brain’s homeostatic processes, which are designed to maintain balance.
When oxygen levels drop too low, the brain could be making one last, desperate attempt to restore equilibrium.
Certain areas of the brain, including the temporoparietal junction (TPJ), become particularly active.
The TPJ is involved in processing memories, out-of-body experiences, and sensory information—another hint that these final moments might involve a surreal, heightened awareness.
The Mystery of Consciousness and the Brain’s Final Moments
These discoveries challenge the traditional view that consciousness fades the moment the heart stops.
The final burst of brain activity suggests that there could be a brief window where the brain continues to function and process information, even after clinical death.
In fact, in some cases, this activity can continue for up to several minutes.
This raises profound questions about the nature of consciousness.
Could the brain still be conscious, even after the body is considered dead?
Studies observing gamma wave activity suggest that consciousness may persist for a brief period after death, at least on a biological level.
How Do We Know What Happens During Death?
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering to yourself how on earth we know these things about death…
Especially when the central subjects—those who die—can’t report back.
However, modern science has found innovative ways to explore the brain’s activity in its final moments, providing insights into what happens at the brink of death.
Here are some of the cool ways we know what we know.
Animal Studies: Research on animals, like rats, shows surges of brain activity just after the heart stops. These studies give us clues about what might happen in human brains during death.
EEG Monitoring in Humans: In rare cases, doctors use EEGs to monitor brain activity in patients close to death. These show that the brain continues to function for a short time, even after the heart stops.
Near-Death Experiences (NDEs): People who have been resuscitated often describe vivid experiences, like life reviews or out-of-body sensations. Scientists use these stories to better understand what the brain is doing during extreme stress or near death.
So, there you have it!
While ethical and practical challenges limit the scope of death research, these methods have allowed scientists to piece together a clearer picture of the brain’s final moments.
Cultural, Spiritual, and Religious Perspectives on Death
Alright, that’s the neuroscience, but we haven’t always had these kinds of tools to measure and understand death in the brain, so what did we do?
I’m glad you asked, and you’re probably not surprised to learn that death has long been the subject of deep spiritual, religious, and cultural exploration.
Many of the ideas and practices surrounding death have existed for centuries—long before we understood gamma waves or the brain’s final burst of activity.
Many cultures and religions have long believed that death is not the end, but a transition—a journey of the soul moving from one state of existence to another.
While neuroscience attributes this to neural activity, many spiritual traditions suggest it is the soul’s reflection on life, a moment of reckoning before moving on to the next realm.
For example, in Hinduism, death is seen as a transition, and it is believed that the soul (or atman) reviews its deeds before reincarnation.
This belief mirrors the neuroscience of memory recall in the dying brain, as the gamma waves fire up regions associated with personal memories.
Similarly, Christianity speaks of a “final judgment,” where one’s actions in life are reviewed before the soul moves to heaven, hell, or purgatory.
Tibetan Buddhists go even further, with practices specifically designed to guide the dying through this transition.
The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes a process in which the soul experiences visions and encounters with deities after death, all part of the journey through bardo.
While neuroscience doesn’t suggest any encounters with deities, the description of vivid experiences after death correlates with the brain’s final surge in activity, which may explain how the dying brain could produce dream-like, otherworldly experiences.
Could this be an ancient understanding of what our brains experience in their final moments?
What’s fascinating is that the neuroscience of death doesn’t necessarily contradict these beliefs.
Instead, it enriches them. We now know that the brain's last surge of life—its gamma waves, its memory recall—creates a sense of continued existence, if only for a few moments longer.
This scientific discovery could be seen as a modern confirmation of the intuition that guided ancient death rituals and beliefs.
Finding Meaning in the Neuroscience of Death
In Viking and Norse mythology, death was not feared but seen as a glorious transition, especially if one died in battle, with warriors destined for Valhalla, a place of eternal honor.
It might be my obsession with Thor & Marvel, plus the athlete in me, but I’ve always resonated with this concept.
It reminds me that I should embrace life fearlessly, live boldly, and leave a legacy through my actions.
So, let’s take inspiration from both science and myth—to live with intention, bravery, and purpose.
Seize every moment, because, in the end, it's these moments—whether they’re small or grand—that our brains may hold onto in that final, brilliant spark before the night takes over.
Until next time… LIVE Heroically 🧠⚡
Supporting Research:
Borjigin, J., et al. (2013). Surge of neurophysiological coherence and connectivity in the dying brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(35), 14432-14437.
Strassman, R. (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Park Street Press.
Chawla, L., et al. (2009). Surges of electroencephalogram activity at the time of death: A case series. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 12(12), 1095-1100.
Proekt, A., et al. (2021). Prolonged gamma oscillation bursts during end-of-life brain activity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15, 745291.
Romand, R., & Ehret, G. (2023). Neuro-functional modeling of near-death experiences in contexts of altered states of consciousness. Frontiers in psychology, 13, 846159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846159
Zaleski, C. (1996). Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times. Oxford University Press.
Kondziella D. (2020). The Neurology of Death and the Dying Brain: A Pictorial Essay. Frontiers in neurology, 11, 736. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2020.00736