Scientists observed a surge in brain activity in dying patients even after their hearts stopped. Near-death experiences, "challenges our fundamental understanding of the dying brain," the researchers reported in the study, which was published last month. How scientists measured human brain activity near deathThe four patients in the recent study were comatose and removed from life support, with their families' permission. At this point, electroencephalogram sensors measured the patients' brain activity as they went into cardiac arrest. Borjigin has observed this same type of surge in brain activity in previous studies on dying rats, but it has historically been very difficult to examine in humans.

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