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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSomething else to lose sleep over: Consciousness could last hours after 'death'
Last edited Wed Feb 18, 2026, 06:20 PM - Edit history (1)
The brain can retain some degree of consciousness for minutes to hours after a patient has been declared dead by doctors, a science conference has heard.
After studying the near-death experiences of those who have recovered after experiencing a cardiac arrest, a researcher has called for a reappraisal of the reversibility of death.
She said her findings suggest that doctors should keep trying to save patients lives for longer, noting that hospitals should re-evaluate [their] resuscitation efforts and the point at which they begin harvesting organs for donation.
Death is defined as the irreversible cessation of circulatory and brain function but the exact moment at which this takes place may be harder to pinpoint than previously thought.
https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/life-after-death-brain-works-for-a-while-after-the-body-dies-6hfm0t3f8
Orrex
(66,873 posts)DBoon
(24,844 posts)Whyisthisstillclose
(555 posts)Fanfuckingtastic! We all need to find out where he is and have the loudest party ever right outside the building
Floyd R. Turbo
(32,579 posts)bigtree
(93,788 posts)...
malaise
(294,608 posts)generalbetrayus
(1,654 posts)Whyisthisstillclose
(555 posts)electric_blue68
(26,555 posts)When it's time....
Cheer LOUDER!!! 👍😄
bucolic_frolic
(54,618 posts)But seriously it makes sense, the chemistry infrastructure is in place even as the oxygen stops. I bet two AA batteries would keep me going for a week at least. Of course getting medicine to actually do this will require some serious adjustments to my will and perhaps lots of lawsuits.
Floyd R. Turbo
(32,579 posts)ornotna
(11,440 posts)I think Ill make it though.
Floyd R. Turbo
(32,579 posts)Disaffected
(6,293 posts)are they trying to tell us that not just brain activity, but brain activity sufficient to maintain consciousness, is possible for hours after cardiac arrest?
Should be an easy thing to test (for brain activity) but I am seriously doubtful it is true.
Floyd R. Turbo
(32,579 posts)A 2019 study found that the brain is able to fire electrical signals many minutes after death, or even hours if preserved.
Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at New York University, said it is likely that the last thing heard by many people who die in hospital is the doctor uttering the words time of death as they remain conscious for longer than expected.
On the paradise island where millionaires go to avoid death (and taxes)
A 2023 study in the Resuscitation journal found that consciousness, awareness and cognitive processes may occur during cardiac arrest for up to an hour while CPR is being performed.
Fowler said that death should be considered to have different phases, arguing: You have stage three cancer, stage two cancer. Well, there are stages of death.
Celerity
(54,012 posts)ck4829
(37,543 posts)My belief? Our consciousness is more than just neurotransmitters and hormones stuck in our brain. Exciting times. I hope more research is done into this.
sop
(18,070 posts)pronounced dead. Poe's short story - 'The Premature Burial' (1844), about a man who lives in terror of being buried and waking up in a coffin - gave me nightmares as a child. Turns out I'm both taphophobic and claustrophobic.
BuddhaGirl
(3,704 posts)"The Cask of Amontillado" - I remember being freaked out. By it as a kid!
rampartd
(4,383 posts)I think I'd better share that with my family; I'd like to go on my own time.
SSJVegeta
(2,569 posts)shakeyslim
(8 posts)Those who know, know
MustBeTheBooz
(354 posts)Which is nice.
usonian
(24,317 posts)He had bacterial meningitis and was placed in a coma. He remembered his NDE and so do others. Neurosurgeon, so he did get intense care by other neurosurgeons, who kept hands off the plug.
I am content to read about this and skip the lab.
Dear Floyd, everything in your link after and including the question mark is an unnecessary tracker that may contain PII, or not. Just saying.
Floyd R. Turbo
(32,579 posts)OC375
(589 posts)Doesn't mean you are going want to be alive again in that damaged brain your consciousness would wake up in after being revived minutes to hours after you stop breathing. I'd imagine that for now this would be something that matters only for select scenarios?
Joinfortmill
(20,635 posts)Response to Floyd R. Turbo (Original post)
wcmagumba This message was self-deleted by its author.
Ray Bruns
(6,140 posts)twodogsbarking
(18,127 posts)ABC123Easy
(177 posts)As a YUUUGE fan of the zombie genre, I'm waiting for this research to lead us swiftly to a zombie apocalypse!
😃
erronis
(23,302 posts)Delving into the world of semi-consciousness as death is taking hold.
Actually much more uplifting than I had expected.
Jacson6
(1,859 posts)Totally Tunsie
(11,704 posts)Your loved one may hear the words to give them a real awakening.
Laffy Kat
(16,920 posts)Rigor mortis often begins around two hours.
canetoad
(20,505 posts)There's been several informal experiments conducted to ascertain consciousness after guillotining. Amazingly, a fairly recent study was undertaken here.
"The Most Gentle of Lethal Methods": The Question of Retained Consciousness Following Decapitation
Abstract
Since the development of the infamous guillotine in the French Revolution, physicians have debated how long consciousness persists in decapitated heads. Fueled by anecdotes of severed heads that blink, blush, and appear to retain intelligence, numerous experiments have investigated this macabre subject for nearly 250 years. In this paper, we examine the evidence, both historical and modern, and ultimately conclude that, while the truth may never be fully known, all evidence appears to indicate that loss of consciousness appears to occur within seconds of decapitation. The rumors that circulated through the European consciousness during the Terror of the French Revolution appear to be just that - curious urban legends from an awed and terrified public.