Brain activity goes into overdrive around the point of death

Scientists are studying dying patients' brain activity in the final moments of life

In the final moments of life there are distinctive bursts of coordinated neural activity. Researchers are interested in parsing that data to better understand the dying process and also exploring how this data relates to our understanding of consciousness.

What happens in a dying brain?

Near-death experiences usually happen during death or on the border of life and death when a person isn't understood to be conscious. This article details the science of what's going on with the brain during NDEs.

The body's response to cardiac arrest has been linked to near-death experiences

Most people who report near‑death experiences experience events like out‑of‑body sensations, altered cognition, emotional and spiritual shifts, or even supernatural phenomena, particularly during cardiac arrest. Research suggests many such experiences may be linked to brain-generated sensory distortions that can be experimentally replicated, suggesting a physiological rather than mystical cause.

Dr. Bruce Greyson on what we know, and how to study, near-death experiences

Considered one of the premier researchers on near-death studies, Dr. Bruce Greyson discusses what researchers know (and don't know) about what happens as we near death, and recounts his decades of observations on the phenomenon.

Accounts of near-death experiences share similarities with hallucinogens

This short film explores human experiences of dying, blending personal reflections with scientific insight. It aims to illuminate the emotional, psychological, and physiological aspects of that final transition, and draws out similarities of psychedlic drug use and accounts of near-death experiences.

Four in 10 CPR patients report consciousness not captured by standard measures

A recent study found people revived by CPR after cardiac arrest reported they experienced some amount of consciousness during clinical death, suggesting our brains are capable of thought and memory for significantly longer after death than previously thought.

Some scientists argue NDEs are constructed by the brain, not actually experienced

Despite the powerful memories associated with NDEs, scientists question the idea that the experiences prove consciousness endures after death, opting instead to find physiological explanations for common reports of out-of-body experiences, euphoric and lucid thinking, and more.

Terminal lucidity is the phenomenon of sudden, heightened mental clarity when on the verge of death

The "Let's Talk Near Death" podcast explores phenomena around the end of life, inviting guests to recount their own experiences. This episode focuses on the phenomenon known as "terminal lucidity," where patients experience clarity, vivid memory recall, and more, typically following a heart attack, stroke, or other trauma.

Research advances suggest death takes much longer than we realized

Recent research indicates that organs, including the brain, are better at handling a lack of oxygen after the heart stops beating than previously known. Such findings may open up possibilities that include someday reversing certain death processes and expanding the availability of organs available for organ donations. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

NDEs typically change people's outlooks drastically and can prompt depression

The phenomena are regularly categorized as hallucinations, but some specialists are interested in their psychological nuances. Many survivors report feeling less anxiety about death, though some surveys show the experiences can increase physiological sensitivities.

Watch this 2021 video demonstrating a full brain death examination

This video and accompanying article in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine show the then-standard steps of a full brain death examination—demonstrating the process on a medical dummy to search for pain, blinking, eye movement, cough, gagging, or other forms of responsiveness. (May need to sign up for a free account to view.)

Pig brain cellular activity was restarted hours after death in study published in 2019

Yale University scientists restored basic cellular activity and circulatory function in pig brains about four hours after death with a synthetic cocktail of preservatives and nutrients. This work— which didn't restart electricity activity in the brain or consciousness—could help advance future human stroke and brain injury treatments.

Delta brain waves happen during deep sleep, while REM cycles resemble being awake

As the brain cycles from wakeful rest to deep sleep, different brain waves emerge. Alpha waves occur during restful waking states, while theta waves can be associated with light sleep and meditation. Delta waves are observed during deep sleep—but REM cycles more closely resemble active awake states.

Brain death is a uniquely modern problem stemming from modern ventilators

Patients who would have once died from devastating brain injury can now live on a ventilator for a long period of time, creating ethical, medical, and legal dilemmas.

Psychedelics set off a flurry of brain activity that may permanently alter it

The brain seems to experience a sharp increase in communication between areas that generally don't interact. New research suggests a thin, sheet-like gray matter structure tucked deep within the brain, between the insular cortex and striatum, may be the key to this change. The area is centrally located and home to many of the receptors that psychedelics target, potentially rewiring the brain and rewriting thought patterns.

When is someone actually dead?

Death is a process, not a sudden flip of a switch. Technology can now interrupt this process at various stages, begging the question of when exactly death happens in the dying process. This 33-minute podcast episode explores this question and the...

Grief rewires the human brain

The human brain handles stress and emotional traumas similarly. In response to the emotional stress of a situation like the death of a loved one, divorce, or abuse, the brain may strengthen or weaken connections between nerves to form new neural connections. Over time, chronic stress can diminish brainpower, reducing overall nerve growth and memory to shift resources to enable elevated fear responses and enable humans to survive.

How seizures (potentially) alter consciousness

Seizures occur when intense electrical activity floods the brain, prompting significant loss of self-control and a variety of sensory disruptions and hallucinations. Cultures interpret the episodes differently, with many contemporary norms viewing them as negative while others characterize them as intense spiritual occasions. Author Fyodor Dostoyevsky viewed his seizures this way, as well as cultures in Mongolia, some Shamanic indigenous religions, and others.

The dreaming brain, as understood by scientists

Technology has advanced to where the seemingly separate fields of psychology and neuroscience are asking the same questions about dreams, such as whether they're more closely related to perception or visualization. Some field-intersecting findings include research that shows people with impaired face perception don't dream of faces, those with brain legion-related cognition difficulties deal with similar issues in dreams, and children's dreams change in parallel to their cognitive development.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

The human brain only uses 5% more energy during active tasks versus resting

Despite only being 2% of the weight of a human body, the average adult brain consumes 20% of its energy, with the majority of it spent on maintaining homeostasis—the stable equilibrium conditions of temperature, acidity, blood sugar, and other properties in the body. For infants, the consumption is closer to 50%.

Anesthetics slow brain activity by promoting inhibitory neurotransmitters

Drugs like propofol and isoflurane increase activity at the GABA receptor, which opens chloride channels. These ions enter neurons and hyperpolarize them, making them less likely to fire. Dexmedetomidine instead blocks norepinephrine receptors in the brainstem to sedate patients.

The brains of people who experience frisson have unique neural pathways

A small 2016 study aimed to investigate the behavioral and neural differences between 10 individuals who experience goose bumps when listening to music and 10 who typically don’t. Scientists reported that individuals experiencing musical chills had greater white matter connectivity in specific auditory, emotional, and social processing areas of the brain.

Brain training game creates long-lasting changes in the brain that may help protect against dementia

Findings published in 2026 that tracked more than 2,000 older adults, examining dementia onset and completion of cognitive speed training activities, provide some of the strongest evidence yet that cognitive training games can help protect against dementia. Participants who underwent speed training and received booster sessions had a 25% reduction in the risk of dementia diagnosis compared with the control group.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

There are psychological benefits to believing in spirits

A number of psychologists believe religion helps subdue our fears of death by giving us a sense of what’s to come and, therefore, a sense of control over how to ensure the best possible outcome.

Gamma Knife surgery uses incredibly precise, high-energy light to treat patients

A form of brain stereotactic radiosurgery, this non-invasive technology concentrates beams of light onto specific tumors to damage the DNA of malignant cells, killing them. The gamma rays used are in the same part of the electromagnetic spectrum as those produced in nuclear reactions, cosmic ray collisions, and radioactive decay.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Watch what the Ebola virus does inside our cells and organs in order to spread and survive.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Larger animals like giraffes, elephants, and blue whales have developed a unique defense against cancer, a phenomenon known as Peto's Paradox

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

Radioactive elements can introduce software errors because the ionizing radiation they produce can detach electrons from atoms, and computer code relies on the distribution of electrons.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness