Matt
What do we feel just before dying? This is a question that troubles many of us and to which we still do not have a clear answer. While the accounts of people who have experienced near-death give us a glimpse of what we might feel, there is no scientific evidence to support it. To solve this mystery, a team of American scientists tried to explain this phenomenon by comparing it to the feelings experienced when watching a horror movie.
Many scientific studies have tried to understand what happens in the body and mind when death approaches, but to this day, this subject remains a great mystery for many of us.
A group of American researchers from the American Chemical Society wanted to explore this dark area of our brain and concluded that the feelings experienced just before dying are similar to those experienced when watching a horror movie. They gave the example of a scene where a victim is chased by a killer and affirmed that viewers can identify with the victim and thus feel the same thing.
According to the researchers, fear is activated in the same way and adrenaline rises. In other words, the feelings and reactions of viewers will not be different from the phases that victims go through in a horror movie.
But what happens in our body when we are afraid?
According to scientists, fear is a cognitive and sensory response that alerts us that we are in danger and prepares us to react; to run away or flee.
When a person senses danger, this sensory information is sent to the thalamus, a part of the brain that acts as a distribution center. The information is then transmitted to another area of the brain, specifically to the amygdala or amygdala complex, which controls behaviors in response to fear. Next, it is redirected to the periaqueductal gray matter, which is involved in pain and defensive behaviors, and will cause a surprise effect in the person, then to the hypothalamus, which triggers the “fight or flight” response.
This process stimulates the secretion of adrenaline as well as the production of glucose to increase energy levels. If this does not help us gain the strength to confront the situation, we begin to scream!
How are screams perceived by our brain?
First of all, it is important to know that screams are not processed in the same area of the brain that is responsible for speech. When we hear someone scream, the sound goes directly to the amygdala. According to researchers, screams are an almost instinctive response and elicit the same reaction in people who hear them.
But again, when screams don’t yield results and the killer manages to catch his victim and inflict torture on her, she will feel pain.
What is the mechanism of pain?
According to scientists from the American Chemical Society, in the event of an injury, specialized neurons called nociceptors send signals to the brain via the spinal cord. These signals reach the thalamus, which recognizes pain and orders the brain to do its best to prevent the same thing from happening again. However, experiencing a severe injury does not necessarily lead to a state of clinical death.
Clinical death, a brain that still functions:
The victim’s body succumbs to the injury; their heart and breathing stop, but their brain is still functioning, as it has not suffered serious damage.
According to scientists, research has shown that the brain enters a state of neutral activity that can normally be associated with a state of consciousness. Entering this phase can thus explain near-death experiences.
Studies have supported this hypothesis, but scientists still do not know why the brain enters this state or what it means.
Biological death, the final phase:
When the victim’s brain stops functioning, it is then called biological death, which is considered the final phase by scientists. From that point on, we cannot know what happens next, because obviously people who die do not come back!
