End of Life Spikes in Brain Waves: Physiological Markers for the Often Reported Near Death Experience?

Newswise — Critical Care doctors at The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates studied the brain waves of seven dying patients. Each patient had normal brain activity in the moments before they were removed from life support with critical illnesses such as multi-organ failure, metastatic cancer or cardiac arrest. Each subsequently experienced a sudden electrical 'alertness' or spike in brain waves in the moments before they died. The spikes came in the same moments just before each patient’s death. They rose to comparable levels and were consistent in duration.

What does this suggest about the workings of our brains as we die? The researchers offer an intriguing theory: could this be physiological evidence of the often reported Out Of Body or Near Death Experience – a cascade of vivid images or memories as patients slipped from consciousness.

“Near death experiences have been documented by a large number of people. Interestingly, these descriptions tend to have a similar theme in that the recollection is vivid and detailed. The nature of these experiences often invokes a spiritual or divine explanation, a topic well beyond the scope of this report. Nonetheless, the end of life is a poorly studied area of clinical medicine and deserves more attention. Whether this observation is meaningful will be determined by future investigation.’

Study investigators are Lakhmir Chawla, M.D.; Seth Akst, M.D., Christopher Junker, M.D.; Barbara Jacobs, R.N., and Michael Seneff, M.D. of The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates. Their research, ‘Surges of Electroencephalogram Activity at the Time of Death: A Case Series,’ is published in the October Journal of Palliative Medicine to be released on Monday, October 5, 2009.

The George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates is an academic multi-group practice of world-renowned physicians affiliated with The George Washington University. The MFA consists of over 550 physicians deploying the latest advances of technology and technique through more than 41 medical/surgical specialties. The MFA is a 501 © 3 non-profit corporation with a long-standing tradition of unsurpassed patient care leading Academic Medicine today.