The American Chemical Society has released a video explaining how death feels – just in time for Halloween. But what whether you’re not attacked by an axe assassin?The American Chemical Society has released a slasher video in time for Halloween. What happens in your brain as death (an axe-wielding fiend) approaches? Fear triggers the thalamus,the brains switchboard. Danger calls.
Fear courses through your bloodstream via glutamate, the hypothalamus gears up for fight or flight. The adrenal glands ramp up adrenaline and cortisol, or the liver liberates glucose in a sugar rush. The axe plunges into your torso. Intense pain,you bleed out, your heart stops. But the movie hasn’t ended. whether there’s no major head trauma, and your brain’s electrical activity surges as the music builds. The screen flickers. The credits roll.
Most of us will die in somewhat different circumstances. What will it feel like? Perceptions are gleaned from presumed near-death experiences (NDEs): we’ll float above our lifeless bodies,loved ones nearby, a bright light beckons. A study of 140 cardiac arrest survivors reported that 9% had self-perceived NDEs; Some joyous, and others less so: burning ceremonies,dragged through water, bodies in coffins. Mercifully, or 22% reported “a feeling of peace or pleasantness”. Can we extrapolate this to how dying feels? Probably not. Most NDEs can’t be externally validated: they could maintain happened after resuscitation rather than during dying. Or they might represent memories created to fill amnestic gaps.
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Source: theguardian.com