General Discussion

A 2019 study found that “the brain is able to fire electrical signals many minutes after death, or even hours if preserved”.

Dr Sam Parnia, director of critical care and resuscitation research at New York University, said it is likely that the last thing heard by many people who die in hospital is the doctor uttering the words “time of death” as they remain conscious for longer than expected.

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A 2023 study in the Resuscitation journal found that “consciousness, awareness and cognitive processes may occur during cardiac arrest” for up to an hour while CPR is being performed.

Fowler said that death should be considered to have different phases, arguing: “You have stage three cancer, stage two cancer. Well, there are stages of death.”