When Is the Brain Dead? Living-Like Electrophysiological Responses and Photon Emissions from Applications of Neurotransmitters in Fixed Post-Mortem Human Brains
Abstract:The structure of the post-mortem human brain can be preserved by immersing the organ within a fixative solution. Once the brain is perfused, cellular and histological features are maintained over extended periods of time. However, functions of the human brain are not assumed to be preserved beyond death and subsequent chemical fixation. Here we present a series of experiments which, together, refute this assumption. Instead, we suggest that chemical preservation of brain structure results in some retained func… Show more
“…With improved understanding of human consciousness, it is more appropriate to use the term “disorders of consciousness,” because it indicates a continuum of phenotypes with variable degrees of conscious awareness (Gosseries et al 2011 ). Neuroscience research further suggests that latent and covert awareness may persist in the dying human brain (Parnia et al 2014 ; Rady and Verheijde 2016 ; Rouleau et al 2016 ). Fig.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The diagram schematically illustrates functional areas related to internal and external awareness (telencephalon and diencephalon) and wakefulness (mesencephalon and rhombencephalon) and their interrelationships under different physiologic, pharmacologic, and pathologic alterations of consciousness (Di Perri et al 2014 ). Neuroscience research also suggests that latent and covert awareness without wakefulness may be present in the dying brain (Parnia et al 2014 ; Rady and Verheijde 2016 ; Rouleau et al 2016 ). Bedside behavioral assessment of unresponsiveness does not necessarily equate with absent capacity for consciousness.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Do these normal brain structures found at autopsy have the potential capacity to regain function? Indeed, isolated parts of the postmortem-fixed human brain (hippocampal body and parahippocampal gyrus) have been shown in tests to retain life-like functional responses to neurotransmitters applied in vitro (Rouleau et al 2016 ). The hippocampus is part of the temporal lobe that has an important role in memory and awareness functions.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
The conception and the determination of brain death continue to raise scientific, legal, philosophical, and religious controversies. While both the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1981 and the President’s Council on Bioethics in 2008 committed to a biological definition of death as the basis for the whole-brain death criteria, contemporary neuroscientific findings augment the concerns about the validity of this biological definition. Neuroscientific evidentiary findings, however, have not yet permeated discussions about brain death. These findings have critical relevance (scientifically, medically, legally, morally, and religiously) because they indicate that some core assumptions about brain death are demonstrably incorrect, while others lack sufficient evidential support. If behavioral unresponsiveness does not equate to unconsciousness, then the philosophical underpinning of the definition based on loss of capacity for consciousness as well as the criteria, and tests in brain death determination are incongruent with empirical evidence. Thus, the primary claim that brain death equates to biological death has then been de facto falsified. This conclusion has profound philosophical, religious, and legal implications that should compel respective authorities to (1) reassess the philosophical rationale for the definition of death, (2) initiate a critical reappraisal of the presumed alignment of brain death with the theological definition of death in Abrahamic faith traditions, and (3) enact new legislation ratifying religious exemption to death determination by neurologic criteria.
“…With improved understanding of human consciousness, it is more appropriate to use the term “disorders of consciousness,” because it indicates a continuum of phenotypes with variable degrees of conscious awareness (Gosseries et al 2011 ). Neuroscience research further suggests that latent and covert awareness may persist in the dying human brain (Parnia et al 2014 ; Rady and Verheijde 2016 ; Rouleau et al 2016 ). Fig.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The diagram schematically illustrates functional areas related to internal and external awareness (telencephalon and diencephalon) and wakefulness (mesencephalon and rhombencephalon) and their interrelationships under different physiologic, pharmacologic, and pathologic alterations of consciousness (Di Perri et al 2014 ). Neuroscience research also suggests that latent and covert awareness without wakefulness may be present in the dying brain (Parnia et al 2014 ; Rady and Verheijde 2016 ; Rouleau et al 2016 ). Bedside behavioral assessment of unresponsiveness does not necessarily equate with absent capacity for consciousness.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Do these normal brain structures found at autopsy have the potential capacity to regain function? Indeed, isolated parts of the postmortem-fixed human brain (hippocampal body and parahippocampal gyrus) have been shown in tests to retain life-like functional responses to neurotransmitters applied in vitro (Rouleau et al 2016 ). The hippocampus is part of the temporal lobe that has an important role in memory and awareness functions.…”
Section: Neuroscience: the Elephant In The Roommentioning
The conception and the determination of brain death continue to raise scientific, legal, philosophical, and religious controversies. While both the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1981 and the President’s Council on Bioethics in 2008 committed to a biological definition of death as the basis for the whole-brain death criteria, contemporary neuroscientific findings augment the concerns about the validity of this biological definition. Neuroscientific evidentiary findings, however, have not yet permeated discussions about brain death. These findings have critical relevance (scientifically, medically, legally, morally, and religiously) because they indicate that some core assumptions about brain death are demonstrably incorrect, while others lack sufficient evidential support. If behavioral unresponsiveness does not equate to unconsciousness, then the philosophical underpinning of the definition based on loss of capacity for consciousness as well as the criteria, and tests in brain death determination are incongruent with empirical evidence. Thus, the primary claim that brain death equates to biological death has then been de facto falsified. This conclusion has profound philosophical, religious, and legal implications that should compel respective authorities to (1) reassess the philosophical rationale for the definition of death, (2) initiate a critical reappraisal of the presumed alignment of brain death with the theological definition of death in Abrahamic faith traditions, and (3) enact new legislation ratifying religious exemption to death determination by neurologic criteria.
“…This term represents a spectrum of phenotypes that arises from the neuropathophysiology of consciousness involving receptivity and responsiveness (Rady and Verheijde 2017 ). Neuroscience research has also refuted contemporary understanding of irreversibility of cessation of brain functions and, more specifically, the capacity for consciousness: “[p]ortions of the post-mortem human brain may retain latent capacities to respond with potential life-like and virtual properties” similar to a living human brain (Rouleau et al 2016 ).…”
Section: The Quranic Definition Of Life and Deathmentioning
Death is defined in the Quran with a single criterion of irreversible separation of the ruh (soul) from the body. The Quran is a revelation from God to man, and the primary source of Islamic knowledge. The secular concept of death by neurological criteria, or brain death, is at odds with the Quranic definition of death. The validity of this secular concept has been contested scientifically and philosophically. To legitimize brain death for the purpose of organ donation and transplantation in Muslim communities, Chamsi-Pasha and Albar (concurring with the US President’s Council on Bioethics) have argued that irreversible loss of capacity for consciousness and breathing (apneic coma) in brain death defines true death in accordance with Islamic sources. They have postulated that the absence of nafs (personhood) and nafas (breath) in apneic coma constitutes true death because of departure of the soul (ruh) from the body. They have also asserted that general anesthesia is routine in brain death before surgical procurement. Their argument is open to criticism because: (1) the ruh is described as the essence of life, whereas the nafs and nafas are merely human attributes; (2) unlike true death, the ruh is still present even with absent nafs and nafas in apneic coma; and (3) the routine use of general anesthesia indicates the potential harm to brain-dead donors from surgical procurement. Postmortem general anesthesia is not required for autopsy. Therefore, the conclusion must be that legislative enforcement of nonconsensual determination of neurological (brain) death and termination of life-support and medical treatment violates the religious rights of observant Muslims.
“…Coronal sections of human brain tissue were selectively responsive to electrical (Rouleau and Persinger 2016) and chemical (Rouleau et al 2016a, b) stimuli with evidence of dose-dependence and habituation. Most notably, opposing deviations of high-frequency spectral power were noted for applications of glutamate and ketamineligands which act upon the NMDA receptor as an agonist and antagonist respectively (Rouleau et al 2016c). Stimulus-response patterns were observed in addition to baseline low-frequency spectral power cerebral hemispheric asymmetries (Rouleau et al 2016a).…”
Post-mortem human neural tissues fixed in ethanol and aldehyde-based solutions express modulated frequency-dependent microvolt potentials when probed by chemical and electrical stimuli. These observations run contrary to the assumption that basic tissue functions are irreversibly impaired upon fixation, in the absence of nutrients and sufficient concentrations of physiological ions. The aim of the current study was to investigate the relative effects of pH and specific charged particles relevant to normal cell physiology upon electric potentials associated with fixed post-mortem rat brain tissue. We identified a positive relationship between the total time the brains had been immersed in ethanol-formalin-acetic acid and high-frequency microvolt potentials within the dorsal right hemisphere of the rat cerebrum. Measuring the pH of the fixative solution surrounding the brains indicated that as time increased, a logarithmic trend toward alkalinity could be observed. Further experiments revealed that high-frequency microvolt potentials were related to pH changes within the right hemisphere only. The right ventral cerebrum displayed a unique response to potassium chloride in ways uncounted for by pH alone. The results suggest that the fixed post-mortem right cerebrum of the rat is particularly sensitive to pH and physiological ions which explains a subset of previous findings with respect to stimulus-response patterns in human coronal brain sections. A concluding hypothesis is presented which suggests that brain tissue expresses material properties independent of metabolic activity though perhaps relevant to living brain function.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
