This is interesting: Scientists have discovered that activity in the brain surges at the point of death. From the story:
A study of seven terminally ill patients found identical surges in brain activity moments before death, providing what may be physiological evidence of “out of body” experiences reported by people who survive near-death ordeals.
Doctors at George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates recorded brain activity of people dying from critical illnesses, such as cancer or heart attacks. Moments before death, the patients experienced a burst in brain wave activity, with the spikes occurring at the same time before death and at comparable intensity and duration. Writing in the October issue of the Journal of Palliative Medicine, the doctors theorize that the brain surges may be tied to widely reported near-death experiences which typically involve spiritual or religious attributes.
Now, that can be interpreted a number of ways; the soul leaving the body, hallucination, a last burst of energy from a dying star (to use a metaphor), the organ reacting to a loss of function. But it sure is interesting.
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