First hint of life after death

Southampton University scientists have found evidence that awareness can continue for at least several minutes after clinical death, which was previously thought impossible.

Some cardiac arrest patients recalled seeing a bright light, a golden flash or the sun shining.

Death is an inevitable consequence of life, but now scientists believe they may have found some light at the end of the tunnel.

The largest ever medical study into near-death and out-of-body experiences has discovered that some awareness may continue even after the brain has shut down.

Scientists at the University of Southampton spent four years examining more than 2000 people who suffered cardiac arrest at hospitals in the UK, US and Austria.

They found that nearly 40% of people who survived described some kind of "awareness" before their hearts were restarted.

One man recalled leaving his body and watching his resuscitation from the corner of the room.

Despite being dead for three minutes, the 57-year-old social worker recounted the actions of the nursing staff in detail and described the sound of the machines.

"We know the brain can't function when the heart has stopped beating," said Dr Sam Parnia, a former research fellow at Southampton University, now at the State University of New York, who led the study.

"But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes when the heart wasn't beating, even though the brain typically shuts down within 20 to 30 seconds after the heart has stopped.

"The man described everything that had happened in the room. Importantly, he heard two bleeps from a machine that makes a noise at three-minute intervals so we could time how long the experienced lasted."

Although many could not recall specific details, some themes emerged. One in five said they had felt an unusual sense of peace while nearly one third said time had slowed down or speeded up.

Some recalled seeing a bright light and others recounted feelings of fear, drowning or being dragged through deep water.

Dr Parnia believes many more people may have experiences when they are close to death but drugs or sedatives used in resuscitation may stop them remembering.

"Estimates have suggested that millions of people have had vivid experiences in relation to death but the scientific evidence has been ambiguous at best.

"Many people have assumed that these were hallucinations or illusions but they do seem to have corresponded to actual events.

"These experiences warrant further investigation."

Dr David Wilde, a research psychologist at Nottingham Trent University, is currently compiling data on out-of-body experiences in an attempt to discover a pattern that links each episode.

"There is some good evidence here that these experiences are happening after people have medically died.

"We just don't know what is going on. We are still in the dark about what happens when you die."

The study was published in the journal Resuscitation.