Consciousness after death

Short description: Common metaphysical theme in society and culture

Śmierć ("Death"), a 1902 painting by Jacek Malczewski

Consciousness after death is a common theme in society and culture, and the belief in some form of life after death is a feature of many religions. However, scientific research has established that the physiological functioning of the brain, the cessation of which defines brain death, is closely connected to mental states.

## Contents

* 1 Neuroscience
* 2 Death
* 3 Near-death experience (NDE)
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 Further reading

## Neuroscience

Neuroscience is a large interdisciplinary field founded on the premise that all of behavior and all of the cognitive processes that constitute the mind have their origin in the structure and function of the nervous system, especially in the brain. According to this view, the mind can be regarded as a set of operations carried out by the brain.[1][2][3][4][5]

Many lines of evidence support this view, for example:

* Neuroanatomical correlates: In the field of neuroimaging, neuroscientists can use various functional neuroimaging methods to measure an aspect of brain function that correlates with a particular mental state or process.
* Experimental manipulations: Neuroimaging correlational studies cannot determine whether neural activity plays a causal role in the occurrence of mental processes (correlation does not imply causation) and they cannot determine if the neural activity is either necessary or sufficient for such processes to occur. Identification of causation and necessary and sufficient conditions requires explicit experimental manipulation of that activity. If manipulation of brain activity changes consciousness, then a causal role for that brain activity can be inferred.[6][7] Two of the most common types of manipulation experiments are loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments. In a loss-of-function (also called "necessity") experiment, a part of the nervous system is diminished or removed in an attempt to determine if it is necessary for a certain process to occur, and in a gain-of-function (also called "sufficiency") experiment, an aspect of the nervous system is increased relative to normal.[8] Manipulations of brain activity can be performed in several ways:

Pharmacological manipulation uses various drugs which alter neural activity by interfering with neurotransmission, resulting in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior. Psychoactive drugs are divided into different groups according to their pharmacological effects; euphoriants which tend to induce feelings of euphoria, stimulants that induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical functions, depressants that depress or reduce arousal or stimulation and hallucinogens which can cause hallucinations, perception anomalies, and other substantial subjective changes in thoughts, emotion, and consciousness.
Electrical and magnetical stimulations uses various electrical methods and techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation. In a comprehensive review of electrical brain stimulation (EBS) results obtained from the last 100 years neuroscientist Aslihan Selimbeyoglu and neurologist Josef Parvizi compiled a list of many different subjective experiential phenomena and behavioral changes that can be caused by electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex or subcortical nuclei in awake and conscious human subjects.[9]
Optogenetic manipulation uses light to control neurons which have been genetically sensitised to light.[citation needed]

* Symptoms of brain damage: Examining case studies (like the case of Phineas Gage) and lesion studies are the only sources of knowledge regarding what happens to the mind when the brain is damaged. Various symptoms have been documented.[10][11]
* Mental development/brain development correlation: The brain grows and develops in an intricately orchestrated sequence of stages, and this development is correlated with the development of various mental capabilities.[12][13][14] Impairments in the growth and development of the brain also result in various neurodevelopmental disorders.

## Death

Main page: Biology:Death

Death is the permanent end of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. It is no longer defined as the cessation of heartbeat (cardiac arrest) and breathing, as CPR and prompt defibrillation can sometimes restart both. In modern medicine, when a definition of the moment of death is required, doctors and coroners usually turn to "brain death" or "biological death" to define a person as being dead; brain death being defined as the complete and irreversible loss of brain function (including involuntary activity necessary to sustain life).[15][16][17][18]

## Near-death experience (NDE)

Main page: Biology:Near-death experience

A near-death experience (NDE) is a personal experience associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations. Some explanations from neuroscience hypothesize the NDE to be a hallucinatory state caused by various neurological factors such as cerebral anoxia, hypercarbia, abnormal activity in the temporal lobes and brain damage, though the exact nature of such experiences is not universally agreed upon.[19][20]

## See also

* Biogerontology, the science of biological aging
* Death anxiety
* Disorders of consciousness, including brain death
* Dualism (philosophy of mind)
* Eternal oblivion
* Information-theoretic death
* Life extension
* Neural correlates of consciousness
* No-hiding theorem
* Self
* Senescence, biological aging
* Unconsciousness

## References

1. ↑ Kandel, ER; Schwartz JH; Jessell TM; Siegelbaum SA; Hudspeth AJ. "Principles of Neural Science, Fifth Edition" (2012).
2. ↑ Squire, L. et al. "Fundamental Neuroscience, 4th edition" (2012).
3. ↑ O. Carter Snead. "Neuroimaging and the "Complexity" of Capital Punishment" (2007).
4. ↑ Eric R. Kandel, M.D. "A New Intellectual Framework for Psychiatry" (1998).
5. ↑ "Neuroscience Core Concepts: The Essential Principles of Neuroscience". http://www.brainfacts.org/about-neuroscience/core-concepts/.
6. ↑ Farah, Martha J.; Murphy, Nancey (February 2009). "Neuroscience and the Soul". Science 323 (5918): 1168. doi:10.1126/science.323.5918.1168a. PMID 19251609.
7. ↑ Max Velmans, Susan Schneider. "The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness" (2008). p. 560.
8. ↑ Matt Carter, Jennifer C. Shieh. "Guide to Research Techniques in Neuroscience" (2009).
9. ↑ Selimbeyoglu, Aslihan; Parvizi, J. (2010). "Electrical stimulation of the human brain: Perceptual and behavioral phenomena reported in the old and new literature". Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 4: 46. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2010.00046. PMID 20577584.
10. ↑ "Severe TBI Symptoms"
11. ↑ "Symptoms of Brain Injury"
12. ↑ "Cognitive Development and Aging: A Life Span Perspective"
13. ↑ "Adolescent Brains Are A Work In Progress"
14. ↑ "Blossoming brains"
15. ↑ "Brain death". http://www.deathreference.com/Bl-Ce/Brain-Death.html.
16. ↑ Young, G Bryan. "Diagnosis of brain death". http://www.uptodate.com/contents/diagnosis-of-brain-death.
17. ↑ Goila, A.; Pawar, M. (2009). "The diagnosis of brain death". Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine 13 (1): 7–11. doi:10.4103/0972-5229.53108. PMID 19881172.
18. ↑ Machado, C. (2010). "Diagnosis of brain death". Neurology International 2 (1): 2. doi:10.4081/ni.2010.e2. PMID 21577338.
19. ↑ Olaf Blanke, Sebastian Dieguez. "Leaving Body and Life Behind: Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experience" (2009).
20. ↑ Elizabeth Kübler Ross, Questions and Answers on Death and Dying: A Memoir of Living and Dying, Macmillan, 1976. ISBN:0-02-567120-0.

## Further reading

* Martin, Michael; Augustine, Keith. (2015). The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN:978-0-8108-8677-3
* Laureys, Steven; Tononi, Giulio. (2009). The Neurology of Consciousness: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropathology. Academic Press. ISBN:978-0-12-374168-4
* "What Happens to Consciousness When We Die". Scientific American.

* v
* t
* e

Death

In medicine|

Cell death
Necrosis

Avascular necrosis
Coagulative necrosis
Liquefactive necrosis
Gangrenous necrosis
Caseous necrosis
Fat necrosis
Fibrinoid necrosis
Temporal lobe necrosis
Programmed cell death

AICD
Anoikis
Apoptosis
Autophagy
Intrinsic apoptosis
Necroptosis
Paraptosis
Parthanatos
Phenoptosis
Pseudoapoptosis
Pyroptosis
Autolysis
Autoschizis
Eschar
Immunogenic cell death
Ischemic cell death
Pyknosis
Karyorrhexis
Karyolysis
Mitotic catastrophe
Suicide gene

* Abortion
* Accidental death
* Autopsy
* Brain death
* Brainstem death
* Clinical death
* DOA
* Death by natural causes
* Death rattle
* Dysthanasia
* End-of-life care
* Euthanasia
* Lazarus sign
* Lazarus syndrome
* Medical definition of death
* Organ donation
* Terminal illness
* Unnatural death

Lists|

* Causes of death by rate
* Expressions related to death
* Natural disasters
* People by cause of death
* Premature obituaries
* Preventable causes of death
* Notable deaths by year
* Unusual deaths
* TV actors who died during production

Mortality|

* Birthday effect
* Child mortality
* Gompertz–Makeham law of mortality
* Holiday effect
* Immortality
* Biological
* Digital
* Infant mortality
* Karōshi
* Maternal death
* Maternal mortality in fiction
* Memento mori
* Micromort
* Mortality displacement
* Mortality rate
* RAMR
* Mortality salience
* Perinatal mortality

After death|

| Body|

Stages
Pallor mortis
Algor mortis
Rigor mortis
Livor mortis
Putrefaction
Decomposition
Skeletonization
Fossilization

Preservation
Cryopreservation

Cryonics
Neuropreservation
Embalming
Maceration
Mummification
Plastination
Prosection
Taxidermy

Disposal
Burial

Bed burial
Burial at sea
Chariot burial
Jar burial
Natural burial
Premature burial
Secondary burial
Ship burial
Sky burial
Space burial
Cannibalism
Cremation
Dismemberment
Excarnation
Promession
Resomation

Beating heart cadaver
Body donation
Cadaveric spasm
Coffin birth
Death erection
Dissection
Gibbeting
Postmortem caloricity
Post-mortem interval

|

Other aspects|

Afterlife
Cemetery
Consciousness
Customs
Death mask
Eternal oblivion
Examination
Funeral
Grief
Intermediate state
Internet
Mourning
Obituary
Resurrection
Taboo on the dead
Vigil

Paranormal|

* Ghosts
* Near-death experience
* Near-death studies
* Necromancy
* Out-of-body experience
* Reincarnation research
* Séance

Legal|

* Abortion law
* Administration
* Capital punishment
* Cause of death
* Civil death
* Coroner
* Death-qualified jury
* Death certificate
* Declared death in absentia
* Death row
* Dying declaration
* Faked death
* Inquest
* Legal death
* Murder
* Necropolitics
* Prohibition of death
* Right to die
* Suspicious death
* Trust law
* Will

Fields|

* Forensic pathology
* Funeral director
* Mortuary science
* Necrobiology
* Post-mortem chemistry
* Post-mortem photography
* Taphonomy
* Biostratinomy
* Thanatology

Other|

* Apparent death
* Dark tourism
* Darwin Awards
* Dead pool
* Death and culture
* Death anniversary
* Death anxiety
* Death deity
* Personification of death
* Dying-and-rising god
* Psychopomp
* Death camp
* Death drive
* Death education
* Death from laughter
* Death hoax
* Death knell
* Death march
* Death messenger
* Death notification
* Death panel
* Death poem
* Death pose
* Death-positive movement
* Death squad
* Death threat
* Death trajectory
* Dignified death
* Extinction
* Fan death
* Festival of the Dead
* Fascination with death
* Hierarchy of death
* Homicide
* Last rites
* Martyr
* Megadeath
* Museum of Death
* Necronym
* Necrophilia
* Necrophobia
* The Order of the Good Death
* Predation
* Sacrifice
* human
* animal
* Social death
* Spiritual death
* Suicide
* Assisted suicide
* Thanatosensitivity
* Undead
* Voodoo death

* Category
* Outline

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