While the patients were being resuscitated, brain monitoring devices were attached to them to see if there were any signals that their brain was taking in information.

The British doctor, who has spent two decades investigating what happens when the heart stops, said those brought back from the edge of death have, for decades, reported heightened consciousness.īut he said the findings show that this is even the case when patients were not conscious and 'in death'.ĭr Parnia's study examined experiences of only 53 men and women who received CPR after going into cardiac arrest and then recovered, out of an initial 567. Others felt like they were 'heading to a destination' or were even aware that CPR was being performed.ĭr Sam Parnia, study author and a critical care expert from New York medical centre NYU Langone Health, said patients can also be aware of activities in intensive care after CPR and hear medics treating them. This included 'evaluating life', such as seeing memories and assessing how they had treated others during their time alive.

Results showed there were five key themes to patients' experiences.

Medics quizzed more than two dozen patients in the US and Britain whose hearts suddenly stopped while in hospital but then recovered. What happens after death remains a mystery.īut doctors may now be closer to understanding what happens to those who come back from the brink.

When your life flashes before your eyes