Mysterious Brain Activity After Death May Indicate the Soul’s Departure, Expert Suggests

[Social Media]

 

A surge of energy detected in the brain of a dying patient who had no measurable blood pressure or heart rate could be a sign of the soul leaving the body, according to an expert in the field.

 

Dr. Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist and professor of anesthesiology and psychology, discussed a recent study that recorded unusual brain activity in a clinically dead patient. The study, which used electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors, captured a sudden burst of energy post-mortem, raising intriguing questions about consciousness and the nature of life after death.

 

“They saw everything go away and then [psh] you got this activity when there was no blood pressure, no heart rate,” Hameroff explained during an interview with Project Unity. “So that could be the near-death experience, or it could be the soul leaving the body, perhaps.”

 

This remarkable energy burst, known as gamma synchrony, is a type of brainwave pattern typically associated with conscious thought, perception, and awareness. According to Hameroff, this phenomenon can last between 30 to 90 seconds, occurring even when the patient is deemed clinically dead. While skeptics argue that this may simply be the final neural firings of a dying brain or a neurological illusion, Hameroff proposes that it might actually represent the departure of consciousness from the body.

 

He suggests that consciousness might not require the same level of energy as other brain functions and could exist on a more fundamental level, making it the last function to cease during the dying process. “The point is it shows that consciousness is actually, probably, a very low energy process,” he stated.

 

Hameroff credits Dr. Lakhmir Chawla as one of the pioneers in studying this phenomenon. He noted that anesthesiologists routinely use EEG technology to monitor brain activity in brain-dead patients before organ donation. According to Hameroff, this unique brain activity has been observed in about 50% of cases where such monitoring is conducted.

 

Further supporting his theory, Hameroff referenced a study by Dr. Robin Lester Carhart-Harris, a researcher examining the effects of psychoactive drugs on mental health and behavior. In this study, volunteers were given a steady drip of psilocybin while inside MRI machines or while being monitored by EEGs. Participants were instructed to remain quiet and still during the test and later describe their experiences.

 

Despite reporting vivid hallucinations and an altered state of consciousness akin to a psychedelic trip, the MRI scans remained dark and inactive, as if the subjects were comatose. “I think they were expecting the MRI to light up like a pinball machine when they gave them the psilocybin because all this stuff would be going on,” Hameroff said. “They were at a loss to explain this.”

 

As the chair of one of the sessions discussing the findings, Hameroff proposed that consciousness might be operating at a “deeper quantum level.” The concept of quantum brain activity, as discussed in Neuroscience News, suggests that certain brain functions may occur at a microscopic level within neurons, beyond the conventional neural pathways. This theory posits that consciousness could emerge from quantum vibrations within neurons, rather than from classical neural activity alone.

 

Hameroff believes Carhart-Harris’s study may also explain why the brain exhibits a final surge of activity at the end of life. “I think consciousness is actually low energy,” he reiterated, suggesting that these observations could provide insight into the fundamental nature of human awareness and the possibility of an existence beyond death.

 

Based on a report by NYP  2025-02-20

 

 

[impulse]

I wonder if it's like that last wisp of smoke when my charcoal grill burns its last ember?  

 

I didn't think charcoal had a soul. Maybe I need to reconsider.

 

 

[richard_smith237]

 

18 hours ago, Social Media said:

“The point is it shows that consciousness is actually, probably, a very low energy process,” he stated.

I agree....   Given the content of a handful of posters in this forum, this is quite evident...   

 

Seriously though - would this not be adrenaline secreted from the medulla as the brain subconsciously identifies its dying...  'one last push' so to speak... 

 

18 hours ago, Social Media said:

Hameroff proposed that consciousness might be operating at a “deeper quantum level.”

 

Without the absense of evidence otherwise, this has to be a possibility - though whether its actually consciousness, or a collective consciousness is one of the many possibilities and leads towards discussions of creation, supreme-intelligence etc...

[WDSmart]

There is no such thing as the "soul." 

[Paul Henry]

All this after just one experience.! Definately requires programmed,managed trials and studies, before any conclussions could be considered. 

[TheFishman1]

I’m not sure after reading this twice if there is a soul it’s almost like religion way back I guess in England and kept the people in line but I’m not real sure about that either

[Lacessit]

The anesthesiologist is saying there is brain activity after the heart and breathing stops.

 

Having had general anesthesia multiple times, it's a big fat nothing when I go under. The next thing I know, I am in the recovery room. Luckily, my only side effects are hunger and thirst.

 

The OP does not say how long after the clinical death brain consciousness lasts. Is there a population from which statistics can be drawn , to say how long it takes on average for brain activity to cease entirely?

 

I can't say if he is right or wrong, but it does appear to be wishful thinking.

 

 

[digger70]

Mysterious Brain Activity After Death May Indicate the Soul’s Departure, Expert Suggests

 

C'mon now  A Soul ? There's no such thing . Experts ,my Foot.

Can one See it /Touch it /Hear it /Feel it /Taste it?  No?    than it doesn't Exist

[GreasyFingers]

5 hours ago, digger70 said:

Mysterious Brain Activity After Death May Indicate the Soul’s Departure, Expert Suggests

 

C'mon now  A Soul ? There's no such thing . Experts ,my Foot.

Can one See it /Touch it /Hear it /Feel it /Taste it?  No?    than it doesn't Exist

So you have been there so you know?

 

You know fire exists so can you weigh a kilogram of fire.

You know wind exists so how do you measure a cubic measure of wind.

 

Please tell us how you do these things.

 

 

[swbaggies]

6 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

So you have been there so you know?

 

You know fire exists so can you weigh a kilogram of fire.

You know wind exists so how do you measure a cubic measure of wind.

 

Please tell us how you do these things.

 

 

You can see fire and feel wind and you can see the aftermath of both too. What has weight got to do with anything the previous poster said when he referred to this.

 

9 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Can one See it /Touch it /Hear it /Feel it /Taste it?  No?    than it doesn't Exist

 

[GanDoonToonPet]

41 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

You know fire exists so can you weigh a kilogram of fire.

 

Yes by using a calorimeter and E = mc^2

 

42 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

You know wind exists so how do you measure a cubic measure of wind.

 

By using a pressure gauge or anemometer

[GreasyFingers]

17 minutes ago, GanDoonToonPet said:

 

Yes by using a calorimeter and E = mc^2

 

 

By using a pressure gauge or anemometer

But after you have measured it, can you then look at it and touch it and still feel what you have measured.

 

54 minutes ago, swbaggies said:

You can see fire and feel wind and you can see the aftermath of both too. What has weight got to do with anything the previous poster said when he referred to this.

Because if the poster said he did not believe in a soul, that is his belief, which is totally irrelevant to anyone else who believe otherwise.

[GanDoonToonPet]

1 hour ago, GreasyFingers said:

But after you have measured it, can you then look at it and touch it and still feel what you have measured.

 

Yes. You can open the calorimeter afterward and feel the heat with your hands or see it with an infra-red camera.

 

Similarly, you can feel the wind with your hand by putting your hand behind the sensor or hear it by putting your ear behind it. Also, you can see the wind using smoke or opaque gas instead of air. This is a common method when studying fluid dynamics.

[3NUMBAS]

I died when I was younger ,I was on high looking down on my body with my mate banging my chest to get my heart going again ,which he did and my trousers were fill of pee and poo where I unloaded my bowels..I descended back into my body and drove home.

[JackGats]

The soul: "the ghost in the machine" (Richard Dawkins).