The largest scientific study of "life after death" and near death experiences in cardiac arrest patients (who were resuscitated) suggests that some people may sustain several minutes of awareness after the heart stops.
"We know the brain can't function when the heart has stopped beating," study leader Dr. Sam Parnia, a former research fellow at Southampton University who is now at the State University of New York, told The Telegraph.
"But in this case, conscious awareness appears to have continued for up to three minutes into the period when the heart wasn't beating, even though the brain typically shuts down within 20-30 seconds after the heart has stopped."
