As humans, we have a long history of coming
to terms with the concept of death. We do our best to cope with the loss of our loved
ones, as well as with the anticipation of our own impending demise. Many of us turn
to spiritual guidance to bring us comfort with stories relating to the idea of an afterlife.
Death has mystified us throughout the ages and across many different cultures. This is
probably why our video, “What Happens When You Die?” has been so immensely popular.
It is only natural to wonder about what happens and whether some distant future will provide
us with the technology to bring us back to life after we pass on. Recent research suggests
that this may be sooner than we could have ever previously imagined.
In April 2019, scientists wanted to test the extent that oxygen deprivation in the brain
was irreparable. They wanted to find out if cells in a lifeless, intact brain could have
some of their functions repaired. They probably didn’t expect for their attempts to lead
to any major breakthroughs. After all, how much can you really restore in a dead brain?
But, as it turned out, they were in for a huge surprise.
An experiment was conducted on the brains of 32 pigs, acquired by researchers at Yale
University. The pigs were already dead when their brains were collected for experimentation,
taken from a slaughterhouse that distributed their meat for consumption. The intact brains
of the pigs had been without blood and stored in room temperature for four hours after death
before the experiment began. A system known as “BrainEx” was used to pump experimental
solution into the brains, acting as artificial blood circulation. This solution contained
a chemical so that it would be more easily detectable when scientists later used an ultrasound
to track the flow of it. After six hours of allowing the solution to transfuse through
the pigs’ brains, researchers were stunned by what they found.
It is like something out of a science-fiction movie. The brains regained the ability to
take in air and glucose, restoring oxygen to their tissues. There was also a shocking
return of some synaptic activity between neurons as well as reduced cell deterioration. Clinically
speaking, though it couldn’t be classified as a living brain, it was a cellularly active
one. This floored the scientists who probably couldn’t believe what they were witnessing.
Researchers did not want to risk the brains regaining consciousness, so the solution that
was used in transfusion contained chemicals intended to block nerve signals – y’know,
just in case. Had any conscious activity been detected, the team planned on medicating the
brains with anesthetic drugs and then freezing them immediately in order to shut down the
process before it could go too far. Perhaps they were afraid of experiencing the horror
of accidentally creating zombie pig brains. As interesting and creepy as it sounds to
turn The Walking Dead, or Frankenstein, into potential, foreseeable reality, the scientists
more likely took this precaution due to ethical concerns. After all, allowing consciousness
in these brains, however unlikely that may be, would be undeniably cruel given their
detachment from their bodies. Certainly, this would create quite a a problem for the board
of ethics. The pig brain study suggests that being alive
or dead is not that simple and that these two concepts are not as black and white as
they may seem. There may not be a definitive line distinguishing the two, and there could
be such a thing as being “partly alive” or “partially dead.” In essence, the study
has opened eyes to the possibility of a new way of being, and it has shown us that death
can occur in stages with some of our functions able to continue after other parts have long
deteriorated. We tend to think that we were gone once we
were declared clinically dead by a doctor. What is construed as “clinically dead,”
however, does not hold consistent meaning and has undergone considerable changes throughout
the years. Death used to be pronounced as a certainty once the heart stopped beating.
Later, the conceptualization of death turned to the brain, and we decided that official
death could only be determined after this vital organ stopped functioning. But, now,
the findings from this research have given us a reason to challenge everything that we
know. As the haunting evidence suggests that cellular activity can be restored in the brain
after death, how can we now define true “clinical death?”
With the advent of new knowledge comes more questions and this is certainly true as it
pertains to ethical considerations. As cited in Medical News Today, “The study throws
into question long-standing assumptions about what makes… [us] alive.” The newsletter
also mentions that there may be limitations in future research regarding regulations for
animals used in experiments. Determining that there may be some form of life after death
creates confusion in what is considered harmful to creatures and how dead an organism needs
to be before it can be used for testing. To say this is a small advancement in medical
knowledge is a colossal understatement. The technology used to spread the experimental
solution into the intact brains of the pigs has paved the way for finding new treatment
methods for people who suffer strokes, brain injuries and diseases like Alzheimer’s.
The New York Times explains that this study may lead the way to a future consisting of
fewer “brain-dead” patients and less need for organ donors. This is because, if doctors
can use something like BrainEx to work more extensively on resuscitating their patients,
there may be less need to harvest organs. So, now we turn to the big questions. Do the
results from the pig study mean that we have found a way to bring the dead back to life?
Does this imply that zombies could be such a thing? Technically but not entirely. There’s
no need to evacuate into your underground bunker just yet. Although scientists prepared
to stop the brains if they did regain consciousness, there were no signs of budding intelligent
activity during the study. Although active, the brains were not close to establishing
awareness. Still, if even some cellular functions can be brought back to life, this opens the
avenue for other areas of research that could potentially lead to learning more about the
mechanisms of action that drive consciousness. Though this type of experiment has a long
way to go before human trials can begin, we’ve already come a long way.
Since the dawn of our existence, we assumed that our bodies can only ever be in one of
two different states. That is, either the state of being alive or of being dead. Once
we’re dead, that’s it. Lights out. There’s no returning to life without a miracle or
some form of divine intervention. This reality has long been presumed as an absolute truth,
despite many of us wishing otherwise. But there are many supposed “truths” that
have been debunked by science. Until the late 1990’s, for instance, we thought the expansion
of the universe was slowing down. Since then, we’ve discovered the opposite, that the
universe is expanding with increasing speed. We also used to think that humans, as a species,
possessed more genes than simple organisms like amoebas. Thanks to the Human Genome Project
in 2003, however, we have since learned that a tiny moss plant has more genes than us.
Nothing is above inquisition, this includes the idea that we cannot be brought back to
life once we are fully dead. It is probably not beyond the realm of possibility
that we could eventually learn how to bring ourselves back to life, but we’re just not
quite there yet. Perhaps learning how to do this will bring us forward into a new step
in our evolution. But the question is, would you actually want to be resurrected? Or would
you rather just be left in peace? Though immortality sounds like it would be cool, being continuously
resurrected every time you die and living forever while getting to see future advancements
of mankind, it may not be all that great. You could get bored and fed up of your existence.
Some elderly people report feeling ready to die because they’ve lived long enough.
The longest living woman on record was Jeanne Calment, a French woman who lived a whopping
122 years and 164 days. Calment was born in 1875, just ten years after the American Civil
War ended. She was alive to witness the inventions of the light bulb, telephones, cars, televisions,
and computers. She saw three American presidential assassinations, both world wars, as well as
the emergence of the internet. Despite witnessing the progress of mankind, however, her longevity
provided her with a lonely existence. Living so long was both a blessing and a curse, as
she outlived her husband, her daughter, and even her grandson. With no remaining relatives,
she made a deal with a lawyer that he could inherit her house after she died if he paid
her 2,500 francs per month. Then she outlived him too. Seeing so many people and things
come and go, she was ready when she finally passed in 1997. She once stated, “I wait
for death and journalists,” poking fun of the fame she earned for living so long. After
enduring such a lengthy existence, we don’t imagine she’d be very happy if some scientist
suddenly came out of nowhere from the future and reanimated her consciousness. She might
say something like, “ugh, I thought I was done! Why did you have to bring me back?”
Thus, we suggest you think carefully before deciding that you want to come back to life
after you die, if it ever becomes a choice. So, just for fun, let’s return to the question
of impending zombie apocalypse. Since the pig study only suggests in the resurrection
of some cellular functions, even if there were zombies derived from this, they probably
wouldn’t be able to consciously think. At most, maybe they’d have restored motor functions
like Mike, the famous, headless chicken. We imagine that any reanimated human corpses
would just continuously walk into a wall with no concept of direction. For this reason,
an outbreak of zombies would probably be very easy to defeat while posing no real threat
to human civilization. We do, however, have a certain type of zombie in existence now.
There’s something known as walking corpse syndrome or Cotard’s syndrome – a rare
condition where people believe they are dead. Their delusion may cause them to think they
are missing body parts or have lost their soul. There was a case of a 53-year-old Filipino
woman with Cotard’s syndrome who believed that she smelled like rotting fish. She requested
to be brought to the morgue so that she could be “amongst her own kind.” She was given
antipsychotics and antidepressants to treat her condition, which improved her symptoms.
Cotard’s syndrome was first described in 1882 by Dr. Jules Cotard as being a condition
with which patients find it difficult to deal with their external reality. Though this isn’t
quite as dramatic as the zombies who have an appetite for brains in television and movies,
it’s still creepy to wonder what life would be like if everyone suddenly came down with
this condition, sluggishly meandering around city streets thinking that they are dead.
So, what do you think of the results of the recent, 2019 pig study? Will we ever be able
to bring the dead back to life? Would you want to be brought back after you die? Let
us know in the comments! Also, be sure to check out our other video what Happens When
you Die! Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
