Brain activity was recorded by electroencephalography.
There are many mysteries the man has kept throughout history regarding the homicide, and many people who were close to him said they experienced memories of his life, prompting experts to investigate what happened. what happens in our brain, what happens when we die, especially when life is cliche in the last seconds.
A class of American researchers found that our brain waves at the time of homicide look the same as when we dream, meditate, or remember, which would mean the brain remains active and coordinated during and after homicide.
Neuroscientists at the University of Louisville in the US analyzed the brain waves of an 87-year-old man with epilepsy who was undergoing electroencephalography when he suffered a heart attack and died. This unexpected event allowed them to record the activity of a dying brain for the first time.
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“We measured 900 seconds of brain activity surrounding the time of the homicide and developed a specific approach to study what happened in the 30 seconds before and after the heart stopped,” said Ajmal Zemmar, neurosurgeon and physician at the University of Louisville. .
The study, published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, provides new insight into a possible organizational role of the brain in homicide and provides an explanation for the strong localization memory of near-homicidal experiences.
Results
Scientists found that long before and after the human heart stopped functioning, there were changes in a specific faction of neural oscillations called gamma oscillations, but they still recorded changes in others. oscillations such as delta, theta, alpha and beta. .
As the study explains, brain oscillations are patterns of rhythmic brain activity found in the living human brain. These different types of vibrations are involved in highly cognitive functions such as concentration, sleep, meditation, memory retrieval, information processing and awareness. Additionally, they are associated with memory flashbacks.
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“By triggering vibrations associated with memory retrieval, the brain can reproduce a final memory of major life events prior to homicide, similar to those reported in near-homicide experiences,” Zemmar said. “These findings challenge our understanding of the exact end of life and raise important subsequent questions, such as when organ donation takes place,” he added.
A field to explore
This is the first study to measure brain activity in a living person during the process of homicide; without blocking, similar examinations were performed on laboratory rats, where similar changes in gamma oscillations were observed.
As those responsible for this research explained, this would suggest the possibility that during a homicide, the brain organizes and executes a biological response that could be present in all species.
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However, the study cautions that these findings are based on an individual case and always come from the brain of a person who suffered injuries, seizures and swelling. For this reason, Zemmar assured that he plans to investigate more cases and that he sees in these results a source of hope.
“As a neurosurgeon, I sometimes face loss. It is incredibly difficult to notify the homicide to distraught loved ones,” he said. “One thing we can learn from this research is that even though our loved ones have their eyes closed and are willing to let us rest, their brains may be replaying some of the best times of their lives.”