Brain activity has the potential to reveal what happens to us when we die, according to immunologist Professor Luke O’Neill. 

The Show Me the Science host said it is not common for scientists to contemplate the afterlife, but everything is scientific. 

“There’s definitely something going on,” he said. 

“Across cultures, there’s a commonality in the near-death experience – they see a bright light and they’re often heading towards it down a kind of tunnel. 

“The second thing is they do see loved ones who died – that's the spooky bit.” 

Prof O'Neill also noted people who are clinically dead and then resuscitated often report a feeling of wellbeing while they were dead and come back with different personalities. 

“And if you’re a Christian, you’re likely to see Jesus; if you’re Muslim, you’re likely to see Mohammed,” he said. 

Brain activity during death

According to a recent study in the Neurobiology of Disease, there is potential for these common near-death experiences to be fully understood and explained. 

“They took people who had clinically died, had flatlined for between 23 and 66 minutes,” Prof O’Neill explained. 

“Even though they had flatlined, they saw spikes of brain activities in different parts of the brain. 

“It could be the last gasp of the brain, but they didn’t interpret it as that - they saw it as evidence that something is going on.” 

The brain activities of those who had died and were brought back to life resembled “as if someone was concentrating on something very hard”, the professor explained. 

'An easy passage'

Prof O'Neill also noted different spike patterns in the brain to hallucinations, meaning the near-death experience cannot be explained through sheer imagination. 

“There are neurotransmitters firing in the near-death experience,” Prof O’Neill said. 

“Endorphins - they give you a sense of wellbeing – transmit. 

“Serotonin also changes, which is connected to hallucination, which might explain what you’re seeing. 

“It could be to make for an easy passage.” 

Future of death

Prof O’Neill noted the study on 25 hospitals saw 10% of its original subjects successfully resuscitated – six of which reported visions while clinically dead. 

He admitted this seems like a low figure, but any scientific investigation starts somewhere. 

This study could lead to further research exploring what happens to us when we die, according to the professor.