The Today Show Rocks! Science Investigates the Near-Death Experience

Two guys, Gary and Randy, worked together delivering furniture for a store, and were told so frequently that they looked so much alike that they could be brothers. Both men knew they were adopted, so those comments got them wondering. When they compared their birth certificates, to their surprise, they discovered they really were brothers. They also knew they had two sisters, also adopted out.

A woman named Joanne read about the brothers and the missing sisters in the local newspaper and realized she was one of the sisters. She showed up at the store and introduced herself. NBC’s Today Show ran with the story on September 23, and the three said they were looking for the missing sister. “She’s called Claire Marie and is aged 39,” Joanne said.

In Florida, the said Claire Marie saw the show and jumped up saying, “Hey, that’s me.” On September 24, the Today show aired the reunion of Claire Marie with her three siblings nationwide, with much hugging and backslapping.

Nice when something good happens on the TV, eh?

Also on the Today Show, this time September 28, anchorwoman Meredith Vieira ran a story about near-death and out-of-body experiences. Cardiac care nurse Karen Tucker said that patients can often describe the resuscitation measures used on them, even while clinically dead. As a result, two hospitals have joined up to explore what happens when we die, and to prove that such post-mortem memories are more than just the brain shutting down. The AWARE (Awareness during Resuscitation) study involves putting images on high shelves to see if people who go out-of-body can see them. Meredith said, “If someone is resuscitated and can describe the images, it’s proof that they were out of their body.”

Now, of course, readers of this blog know this, but remember, this is mainstream TV the subject seriously. How cool is that?

Also, on the MSNBC website for the Today Show, Dr. Sam Parnia, one of the doctors in the AWARE study, wrote a fascinating article. He is a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center and author of What Happens When We Die. Here’s part of his article:

For many years colleagues and I have worked to establish a scientific method to study the elusive question of what happens when we die. Although a highly emotive subject that has traditionally been perceived as a subject for philosophical or theological debate, recent advances in medicine have finally enabled a scientific approach to answering this age-old question.

Contrary to popular perception, we now understand that biologically speaking, there is no ‘moment’ that defines ‘death.’ In fact, death is a process that begins when the heart stops beating and the lungs stop breathing, and as a consequence, within a few seconds the brain ceases functioning and enters into a ‘flatline’ state. From this point on, oxygen deprivation leads brain cells into a ‘panic’ state before they incur substantial damage and ultimately die over a period of minutes to hours.

A fascinating question that arises, then, is this: At what point during this process of cell death do we die? When exactly does the human mind and consciousness cease its activity? Is it at the moment the heart stops beating, or is it a few seconds, minutes, or even hours after the process of death has initially begun? Furthermore, what is the relationship between the mind and the brain during the state of clinical death?

After Flatlining
Although many independent studies have shown that the brain reaches a ‘’flatline’ state during clinical death, it has consistently been shown that 10 to 20 percent of people who are revived back to life report some activity of the mind and consciousness in the form of lucid, well-structured thought processes with reasoning and memory formation as well as the ability to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ actual events (which have in some cases been confirmed by hospital staff), raising the intriguing possibility that the mind and consciousness could continue functioning after we have reached the point of death and the brain has ‘flatlined.’

This intriguing possibility will now be tested using images that are strategically placed in specific areas in the hospitals, such that they are visible only by opening the ‘eyes’ and looking down from the ceiling.

What does it hope to prove?
The study intends to provide a scientific understanding of what happens when we die and in particular, what happens to the human mind and consciousness during clinical death.  Recent scientific studies of the brain during cardiac arrest and clinical death have consistently demonstrated a ‘flatline’ brain state, yet 10 to 20 percent of those who are resuscitated back to life people report lucid well-structured thought processes with reasoning and memory formation. In some cases, there have also been reports of the ability to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ precise details relating to events that had occurred during clinical death. If verified through large scale studies, these detailed perceptions may indicate a high level of consciousness in the absence of detectable brain activity during the early part of clinical death, at the very least. The AWARE study aims to determine whether the mind and consciousness can continue to function for a period of time during clinical death or whether the human mind ceases functioning as soon as the heart stops beating and the clinical criteria of death have been met.
Why study what happens when we die?
Traditionally, many of the major questions that mankind has faced have been tackled by philosophy or theology. However, in the last few centuries, science has gradually begun to seek, and has been able to provide to a certain extent, answers to such questions. One of the areas still eluding science’s grasp has been the question of what happens when we die, as well as the nature of the human mind and consciousness and their relationship with the brain.  
From a social perspective, we know that each one of us will one day face our moment of death. Therefore, it is imperative that we provide scientific answers to the question of what happens when we die.  
From a medical point of view, latest discoveries have provided doctors with the ability to push back the boundaries of death and reverse the process of death once it has started. With ever-improving scientific discoveries, we will be able to bring even more people back to life from clinical death. In order for the medical profession to treat its patients more appropriately and to address many of the ethical dilemmas that arise from medical and scientific progress, it is paramount for physicians to be able to provide a scientific understanding of what happens to the brain and body, and more importantly, the human mind and consciousness, during death.

How amazing is this? A medical doctor saying science must weigh in on the debate about death, and that the human mind can operate independently of the brain. Also, the very idea of scientists setting up a large-scale project to study NDEs and OOBEs is outstanding news, for it will remove the topics from anecdotal ‘woo-woo land’ and put them in the scientific literature for mainstream science to absorb.

Nice!

Comments

[Meg]

Since the AWARE project started (last year I think) I am waiting for positive results proving that consciousness is in fact independent from the physical brain. It is cool project indeed, and promising. Way to go Dr. Parnia!