The Neurology of Death and the Dying Brain: A Pictorial Essay.
Frontiers in Neurology July 21, 2020 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.00736 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Near-death experience |
| Keywords | Consciousness Cardiac arrest Resuscitation Coma Organ donation Brain death Migraine aura |
| Key points | Argues that neurologists are well positioned to address the science of the transition from life to death, illustrating brain death determination pitfalls, global legislative variability, and DCD debates. Proposes that near-death experiences may arise from mechanisms such as temporoparietal cortex dysfunction, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism, migraine aura, and rapid eye movement sleep, and hypothesizes thanatosis as their evolutionary origin. |
Abstract
As neurologists earn their living with the preservation and restoration of brain function, they are also well-positioned to address the science behind the transition from life to death. This essay in pictures highlights areas of neurological expertise needed for brain death determination; shows pitfalls to avoid during the clinical examination and interpretation of confirmatory laboratory tests in brain death protocols; illustrates the great variability of brain death legislations around the world; discusses arguments for the implementation of donation after circulatory death (DCD); points to unresolved questions related to DCD and the time between cardiac standstill and organ procurement ("hands-off period"); provides an overview of the epidemiology and semiology of near-death experiences, including their importance for religion, literature, and the visual arts; suggests biological mechanisms for near-death experiences such as dysfunction of temporoparietal cortex, N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonism, migraine aura, and rapid eye movement sleep; hypothesizes that thanatosis (aka. death-feigning, a common behavioral trait in the animal kingdom) represents the evolutionary origin of near-death experiences; and speculates about the future implications of recent attempts of brain resuscitation in an animal model. The aim is to provide the reader with a thorough understanding that the boundaries within the neurology of death and the dying brain are being pushed just like everywhere else in the clinical neurosciences.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on near-death experience, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otherworld Journeys: Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times | 1987 | Historical analysis | |
| Neuroscience and the Near-Death Experience: Roles for the NMSA-PCP receptor, the sigma receptor and the endopsychosins | 1990 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Implications of near-death experiences for a postmaterialist psychology. | 2010 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-Death Experience as a Probe to Explore (Disconnected) Consciousness | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Near-death experiences between science and prejudice | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- The evolutionary origin of near-death experiences: a systematic investigation Brain Communications June 22, 2021
- Studying death and near‐death experiences requires neuroscientific expertise Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences August 26, 2022
- Neuro-functional modeling of near-death experiences in contexts of altered states of consciousness. Frontiers in Psychology 2022
- It’s Cells All the Way Down October 5, 2023
- Near-Death Experiences, Post-Traumatic Stress, and Supernormal Abilities in a Latin American Sample Journal of Near-Death Studies 2023
and 1 more in the library
Cites 23
- Subanesthetic Effects of the Noncompetitive NMDA Antagonist, Ketamine, in Humans Archives of General Psychiatry March 1, 1994
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- The Near-Death Experience Scale The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease June 1, 1983
- DMT Models the Near-Death Experience Frontiers in Psychology August 15, 2018
and 18 more in the library