This wasn’t a planned experiment. However, it was not a one-off.
An 87-year-old man was being monitored with EEG equipment because of epilepsy. The recording was routine. Continuous. Then he suffered cardiac arrest. The machines kept running.
That case produced the clearest data. But it wasn’t the only one.
Two other patients, also undergoing neurological monitoring, died while connected to EEG equipment. Their recordings weren’t as complete or clean. But they mattered for a different reason: they didn’t contradict what showed up in the first case.
What the Recordings Actually Captured
Across the cases, researchers saw organized brain activity around the time the heart stopped.
In the most detailed recording, there were approximately 30 seconds before and after cardiac arrest during which the brain exhibited coordinated wave patterns. Not silence. Not immediate collapse.
The standout feature was gamma activity—the rapid brain waves neurologists associate with memory processing and internal awareness. These waves didn’t appear in isolation. They interacted with slower rhythms in a structured way.
The other two patients showed similar patterns and types of activity, although the data resolution was lower.
That’s the quiet but important part: the pattern didn’t only show up once.
What This Does Not Mean
No patient reported an experience. No one could.
EEG doesn’t tell you what someone is thinking, remembering, or feeling. It shows electrical rhythms — not thoughts, not images, not a life review.
The researchers were careful about this. They didn’t claim consciousness after death. They didn’t claim awareness. They didn’t claim anything metaphysical.
They reported that the activity resembled patterns observed during memory recall and dreaming. That’s a comparison, not a conclusion.
Why the Extra Cases Matter
If this had only happened once, it would be easy to dismiss it as noise, pathology, or coincidence.
The additional recordings don’t prove anything new — but they remove the idea that the first result was completely anomalous.
Not replicated. Not confirmed. Just… not alone.
That’s a different kind of weight.
The Assumption That Took a Hit
There’s a default belief — rarely stated, often assumed — that when the heart stops, the brain goes dark almost immediately.
These recordings don’t overthrow that belief. But they complicate it.
They suggest that the shutdown may involve a brief organizational pause, not an immediate silence. A process, not a switch.
What that process represents is still unknown.