After death what happens Human Consciousness Project AWARE and BRAIN projects

http://www.brainwaving.com/2009/12/27/what-happens-when-we-die/

This article is most intriguing in challenging the monist view of the exclusive existence of matter.

SIR JOHN ECCLES

What Happens When We Die?Spirituality — POSTED BY David Luke on December
27, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Does
evidence from the reports of near death experiences suggest that the human mind,
or soul, is separate from and irreducible to the human body? If the answer is
yes, then what consequences does this have for our understanding of reality,
science, and religion?
The Human Consciousness Project is an international
consortium of multidisciplinary scientists and physicians who have joined forces
to research the nature of consciousness and its relationship with the brain, as
well as the neuronal processes that mediate and correspond to different facets
of consciousness. The Human Consciousness Project will conduct the world’s first
large-scale scientific study of what happens when we die and the relationship
between mind and brain during clinical death. The diverse expertise of the team
ranges from cardiac arrest, near-death experiences, and neuroscience to
neuroimaging, critical care, emergency medicine, immunology, molecular biology,
mental health, and psychiatry.
The mystery of what happens when we die and
the nature of the human mind has fascinated humankind from antiquity to the
present day. Although traditionally considered a matter for philosophical
debate, advancements in modern science and in particular the science of
resuscitation have now enabled an objective, scientific approach to seek answers
to these compelling questions, which bear widespread implications not only for
science, but also for all of humanity.
while studies of the brain during
cardiac arrest have consistently shown that there is no brain activity during
this period, these individuals have reported detailed perceptions that appear to
indicate the presence of a high-level of consciousness in the absence of
measurable brain activity
Since the 1950s and 60s, marked improvements in
resuscitation techniques have led to higher survival rates for patients
experiencing cardiac arrest. Although many studies have focused on prevention
and acute medical treatment of cardiac arrest, relatively few have sought to
examine cognitive functioning and the state of the human mind both during and
subsequent to cardiac arrest. The in-depth study of such patients, however,
could serve as the most intriguing facet of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and
may lead to significant progress in improving medical care while effectively
addressing the mind-brain problem.
Today, most scientists have adopted a
traditionally monist view of the mind-brain problem, arguing that the human
mind, consciousness, and self are no more than by-products of electrochemical
activity within the brain, notwithstanding the lack of any scientific evidence
or even a plausible biological explanation as to how the brain would lead to the
development of mind and consciousness.
This has led some prominent
researchers, such as the late Nobel-winning neuroscientist Sir John Eccles, to
propose a dualist view of the problem, arguing that the human mind and
consciousness may in fact constitute a separate, undiscovered entity apart from
the brain.
Contrary to popular perception, death is not a specific moment,
but a well-defined process. From a biological viewpoint, cardiac arrest is
synonymous with clinical death. During a cardiac arrest, all three criteria of
clinical death are present: the heart stops beating, the lungs stop working, and
the brain ceases functioning. Subsequently, there is a period of time—which may
last from a few seconds up to an hour or longer—in which emergency medical
efforts may succeed in resuscitating the heart and reversing the dying process.
The experiences that individuals undergo during this period of cardiac arrest
provide a unique window of understanding into what we are all likely to
experience during the dying process.
In recent years, a number of scientific
studies conducted by independent researchers have found that as many as 10-20
percent of individuals who undergo cardiac arrest report lucid, well-structured
thought processes, reasoning, memories, and sometimes detailed recall of their
cardiac arrest. What makes these experiences remarkable is that while studies of
the brain during cardiac arrest have consistently shown that there is no brain
activity during this period, these individuals have reported detailed
perceptions that appear to indicate the presence of a high-level of
consciousness in the absence of measurable brain activity. These studies appear
to suggest that the human mind and consciousness may in fact function at a time
when the clinical criteria of death are fully present and the brain has ceased
functioning.
If these smaller studies can be replicated and verified through
the definitive, large-scale studies of the Human Consciousness Project, they may
not only revolutionize the medical care of critically ill patients and the
scientific study of the mind and brain, but may also bear profound universal
implications for our social understanding of death and the dying process.
The
AWARE (AWAreness during REsuscitation) study is the first launched by the Human Consciousness Project and is led by Dr. Sam Parnia, a world-renowned expert on
the study of the human mind and consciousness during clinical death, together
with Dr Peter Fenwick and Professors Stephen Holgate and Robert Peveler of the
University of Southampton. The team will be working in collaboration with more
than 25 major medical centers throughout Europe, Canada, and the United States.
During the AWARE study, physicians will use the latest technologies to study the
brain and consciousness during cardiac arrest. At the same time, they will also
be testing the validity of out of body experiences and claims of being able to
see and hear during cardiac arrest through the use of randomly generated hidden
images that are not visible unless viewed from specific vantage points
above.
The AWARE study will be complemented by the BRAIN-1 (Brain
Resuscitation Advancement International Network – 1) study, in which researchers
will conduct a variety of physiological tests in cardiac arrest patients, as
well as cerebral monitoring techniques that aim to identify methods to improve
the medical and psychological care of patients who undergo cardiac arrest. The
studies are being funded by the UK Resuscitation Council, the Horizon Research
Foundation, and the Nour Foundation in the United States.
Brainwavers, what
do you think of this study and its possible consequences? Can the mind really be
separated from the body and thereby undermine the monist foundations of
traditional physics – that only thing in existence in the universe is matter in
some form or another?