near to death episodes: latest study (Endings)

by David Turell , Friday, November 03, 2017, 20:25 (2575 days ago) @ dhw

dhw: My complaint was that the original article contained no evidence for dualism. However, even the new article confines itself to events happening around the patient, and the fact that patients cannot communicate or control their bodies does not mean they are unconscious. The new article states: “Brain waves from the cerebral cortex soon become undetectable. Even so, it can take hours for our thinking organ to fully shut down.”

The 'soon become undetectable' is 4-20 seconds. Please accept that short time. The cortex is NO LONGER functional. The nonfunctioning cells die in 4-6 minutes if no resuscitation.

DAVID’S comment: For me case closed. Until you get full cardiac function there is coma. Yet patients report experiences. All resuscitation does is limit cell death. Your comment about learning of unknown facts is a stronger example I admit.

dhw: As you have said, some coma patients who have recovered even years later report that they were fully aware of events going on around them. Once again: There is no reason to assume that the inability to communicate and to control the body after cardiac arrest or reduced function means that the still living cortex is unable to perceive and think.

This is locked-in syndrome with a damaged but living and functional cortex. Not an example you can use!

dhw: Awareness of events within the patient’s area of perception will therefore only provide evidence for dualism if it can be proved that the cortex is incapable of awareness and thought under the conditions described.

In clinical death the cortex is not functional. Again Parnia, first article:

"Dr Sam Parnia said: “Technically, that's how you get the time of death – it's all based on the moment when the heart stops.
“Once that happens, blood no longer circulates to the brain, which means brain function halts almost instantaneously.
“You lose all your brain stem reflexes – your gag reflex, your pupil reflex, all that is gone.”
However, there’s evidence to suggest that there’s a burst of brain energy as someone dies."

Comment: Which is brief!