by Nick Jacobs

AOL ran a piece by Ashley Neglia entitled, “What Happens When We Die?” This article asks the question, “Is the mind an extension of the brain or its own entity?” This article was based on the work of Dr. Sam Parnia, a critical care physician who wrote the book of the same title. Through his work Dr. Parnia attempts to clarify what patients are experiencing during near death experiences.

According to the experts, it is absolutely clear that when the heart stops beating, the brain shuts down in about 10 seconds. Although the expectation is that brain activity would come to a complete stop as well, but anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of people who have actually gone through what is described as a clinical death still report some type of brain activity.

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According to Dr. Parnia, many of these patients report on experiencing a state described as dream-like. It is his decision that the possibility that this experience occurs cannot be denied. So the question becomes, is it some type of illusion?

Probably the most telling phrases in this article were “….it may be possible that the mind is non-local to the brain. If you ask quantum physicists, this is possible because we know at that level that things can be non-local, they behave in a weird way.”

The primary goal of the research being conducted through Dr. Parnua;s work as director of the “Human Consciousness Project,” is to improve the results of resuscitation and to improve the way patients are managed after their hearts have stopped. Obviously, the goal would be fewer incidents of neurological problems.