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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Hannah Devlin Science correspondent

People in comas showed ‘conscious-like’ brain activity as they died, study says

Brain waves on a screen
Two of the patients showed a surge of gamma wave activity, considered the fastest brain activity and associated with consciousness. Photograph: Deco/Alamy

Some recall bright lights at the end of a tunnel, feeling the presence of loved ones or floating above their body after a near-death experience. Now, scientists say they have captured “conscious-like” brain activity in dying patients in findings that give new insights into the process of death.

“How vivid experience can emerge from a dysfunctional brain during the process of dying is a neuroscientific paradox,” said Jimo Borjigin, of the University of Michigan, who led the study. “We saw potential neuro-signatures of consciousness.”

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