Near-Death High-Frequency Hyper-Synchronization in the Rat Hippocampus
Frontiers in Neuroscience July 31, 2019 Yujiao Zhang, Zhenyi Li, J. Zhang et al. 13 citations
Near-death experiences (NDE) involve enhanced perception and memory, and have been linked to a surge in high-frequency brain oscillations. In anesthetized rats dying from an overdose of chloral hydrate, a surge in beta and gamma band power occurred in the hippocampus, with gamma power specifically tied to impending death. Theta band power was suppressed. Cardiac arrest only developed after breathing stopped and all oscillatory activity collapsed, showing that the high-frequency surge is not exclusive to cardiac arrest. The gamma synchronization in the CA1 region may contribute to NDEs that occur both with and without cardiac arrest.