A leading neurosurgeon has revealed what happens to our brains after we die.

Dr Ajmal Zemmar believes we go through a process called “life recall” where we get to replay our most memorable moments. His study suggests that the brain remains active and coordinated even after the transition to death – and is even programmed to orchestrate the whole ordeal.

The breakthrough was discovered by accident when an 87-year-old patient with epilepsy was having their brain monitored to detect seizures. But during the recordings, the patient had a heart attack and passed away. The unexpected event allowed scientists to record the activity of a dying human brain for the first time ever. Dr Zemmar of the University of Louisville said: “We measured 900 seconds of brain activity around the time of death and set a specific focus to investigate what happened in the 30 seconds before and after the heart stopped beating.

“Just before and after the heart stopped working, we saw changes in a specific band of neural oscillations.”

Brain oscillations are more commonly known as brain waves. They are patterns of rhythmic brain activity normally present in living human brains.

The different types of oscillations are involved in high-cognitive functions, such as concentrating, dreaming, meditation, memory retrieval, information processing and conscious perception, just like those associated with memory flashbacks.

“Through generating brain oscillations involved in memory retrieval, the brain may be playing a last recall of important life events just before we die, similar to the ones reported in near-death experiences,” Zemmar said.

“These findings challenge our understanding of when exactly life ends and generate important subsequent questions, such as those related to the timing of organ donation.

“Every human alive has at some point an encounter when they lose a loved one and every one of us someday will go death themselves, so the interest obviously has been there.”

He added: “I think it is somewhat calming. I face this at times when you have patients that pass away and you talk their families; you have to be the bearer of bad news.

“Right now, we don’t know anything about what happens to their loved one’s brain when they’re dying. I think if we know that there is something happening in their brain, that they are remembering nice moments, we can tell these families and it builds a feeling of warmth that in that moment when they are falling, this can help a little bit to catch them.”

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