CirculationNovember 4, 2025Sanam Alilou, Alexandria Salib, J. Kempe et al.
Background: Around, 10% of cardiac arrest survivors report vivid Recalled Experiences of Death (RED)— heightened lucidity, visual and auditory awareness, and a perception of a purposeful life review - which positively impact the quality of survivorship. However, these experiences are often labelled as hallucinations or dream like experiences. As Natural Language Processing (NLP) - a scalable...
Studies have not explored consciousness during deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA). However, as studies in cardiac arrest have identified a spectrum of consciousness, we sought to establish the feasibility of studying consciousness during DHCA. This was a prospective study across 10 hospitals with 36 DHCA patients undergoing thoracic aortic aneurysm repair or pulmonary endarterectomy. A...
Cognitive activity and awareness during cardiac arrest (CA) are reported but ill understood. This first of a kind study examined consciousness and its underlying electrocortical biomarkers during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). In a prospective 25-site in-hospital study, we incorporated a) independent audiovisual testing of awareness, including explicit and implicit learning using a...
Resuscitation PlusMay 9, 2022Rebecca L West, Quentin Otto, Ian R Drennan et al.
Background: There are increasing numbers of reports of cognitive activity, consciousness, awareness and recall related to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and interventions such as the use of sedative and analgesic drugs during CPR. Objectives: This scoping review aims to describe the available evidence concerning CPR-related cognitive activity, consciousness, awareness and recall and...
An inadvertent consequence of advances in stem cell research, neuroscience, and resuscitation science has been to enable scientific insights regarding what happens to the human brain in relation to death. The scientific exploration of death is in large part possible due to the recognition that brain cells are more resilient to the effects of anoxia than assumed. Hence, brain cells become...
Introduction/Hypothesis: While many intensive care unit survivors report negative long-term psychological outcomes including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety, some report a positive transformational outcome associated with the recall of a unique cognitive experience, often referred to using the poorly defined term of near-death experiences (NDE). This aspect of ICU...
Transcendental mystical or spiritual experiences close to death have been described for millennia. However, following the birth of modern intensive care medicine four decades ago, the specific term ‘near-death experience’ (NDE) was coined. 1 Current research indicates that, regardless of cultural background, adults and young children (<3 years) have described comparable experiences in...
Advances in resuscitation science have indicated that, contrary to perception, death by cardiorespiratory criteria can no longer be considered a specific moment but rather a potentially reversible process that occurs after any severe illness or accident causes the heart, lungs, and brain to stop functioning. The resultant loss of vital signs of life (and life processes) is used to declare a...
Background: Cardiac arrest (CA) survivors experience cognitive deficits including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is unclear whether these are related to cognitive/mental experiences and awareness during CPR. Despite anecdotal reports the broad range of cognitive/mental experiences and awareness associated with CPR has not been systematically studied. Methods: The incidence and...
Cardiac arrest is associated with a number of cognitive processes as well as long term psychological outcomes. Recent studies have indicated that approximately 10-20% of cardiac arrest survivors report cognitive processes, including the ability to recall specific details of their resuscitation from the period of cardiac arrest. In addition it has been demonstrated that these cognitive processes...