First recording of a dying human brain shows waves similar to memory flashbacks (2022)

Ethics and feasibility of studying dying brains

• Several comments argue many terminal or MAID patients would willingly participate in end‑of‑life brain studies; others are surprised large cohorts don’t already exist.
• Pushback attributes the lack partly to ethics boards and “anti-growth” bureaucracy; others defend IRBs as essential safeguards that force rigor and protect participants.
• Some suggest moving equipment to homes for MAID or hospice patients to reduce discomfort and institutional feel.

Motivations and reluctance to volunteer

• Pro‑participation view: people already donate organs and bodies and often seek meaning or legacy; this would be another way to help others. Some commenters say they’d sign up “without hesitation.”
• Anti‑participation view: dying in a hospital already feels dehumanizing; turning final moments into an experiment is seen as invasive, especially with fear of “emotionally detached” staff.
• Several note that even a tiny fraction of the ~60–70M annual deaths would be enough for large studies, given heterogeneity in personal preferences.

Personal experiences of near-death and unconsciousness

• Multiple stories of drowning, electrocution, strangulation, seizures, bike and car accidents, and fainting:
  • Many report rapid, intense “flashbacks,” life review–like sequences, or dreamlike vignettes with distorted time and layered sounds.
  • Others report a complete void: no dreams, no images—just a hard “cut” in experience.
  • Some describe near-death states as oddly calm or even cozy; others as overwhelming or terrifying.

Anesthesia and altered states

• Numerous comparisons between near-death experiences and general or “twilight” anesthesia:
  • General anesthesia is often described as an instantaneous jump cut—no subjective time, no dreams.
  • Twilight sedation mixes awareness with amnesia; patients may talk and respond yet remember nothing.
  • Discussion clarifies that modern anesthesia combines unconsciousness, analgesia, and amnesia, not “just erasing the tape.”

Interpretation and scientific limits of the study

• Skeptics note the core data come from a single epileptic patient with brain bleeding and swelling; generalization is seen as very weak.
• Questions raised:
  • Do healthy dying brains show similar waves?
  • Could similar patterns appear in non-dying brains or even in “dead” tissue (referencing the famous dead-trout fMRI cautionary tale)?
  • Is it justified to say the brain is “programmed” to orchestrate a final life review?

Speculation: mechanisms, evolution, and meaning

• Mechanistic ideas:
  • Brain performing a desperate search through memories for survival-relevant patterns.
  • Last-ditch “systems check” or “memory dump” as neural networks destabilize.
  • Possible role of neuromodulators like DMT and stress hormones in producing vivid, time-dilated experiences.
• Evolutionary doubts: traits expressed only at irreversible death seem hard to select for; any adaptive explanation likely has to treat flashbacks as a byproduct of circuitry useful earlier in life.
• Spiritual/afterlife angles:
  • Some find it comforting to imagine dying people revisiting “nice moments” and suggest this could help grieving families.
  • Others argue this is unwarranted optimism; traumatic memories or PTSD content could just as easily dominate.
  • A minority link the phenomenon to religious ideas of heaven/hell, life review, or a transition to some form of collective consciousness.