Life after death mystery deepens as scientists find signs of consciousness in 'clinically dead' patients

Researchers report signs that consciousness may persist in some people whose hearts have stopped for several minutes, according to a study highlighted by Daily Mail Online. The report describes an experiment involving more than 140 patients at risk of cardiac arrest across 13 hospitals in the UK and Spain. During the first two minutes of resuscitation, volunteers’ hearts were stopped and specific sounds were played through a laptop-linked speaker. After recovery, survivors took a ten-item recognition test mixing sounds actually used in CPR with others that weren’t. Those who heard nature sounds such as rain and birdsong, or newly created melodies, scored above chance, while a comparison group performed near guessing levels. Teams from Spain’s Comillas Pontifical University, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Liverpool John Moores University designed the study. Lower brain-oxygen readings correlated with better recognition and more intense near-death reports.