Before passing away, many individuals enter a phase of unresponsiveness to the external environment. Reports of near-death experiences often indicate that those nearing death can hear unusual sounds or even their own departure.
In a person’s final moments, doctors ask family members to gather in the hospital room, hold the patient’s hand, and whisper comforting words before the electrocardiogram displays a flat line. Many report witnessing positive responses from the patient when loved ones speak during those last moments.
Hearing is the last sense to function before a person dies. (Image: Freepik)
To investigate which sense remains active just before the body dies, scientists from the University of British Columbia monitored the brain activity of 17 healthy patients (Group One), 8 terminal patients who were responsive (Group Two), and 5 terminal patients who were unresponsive (Group Three). The patients listened to two types of songs featuring 5 notes. The first song consisted of 5 repeating notes, while the second song had variations in tone.
The healthy patients were asked to count the number of different songs. The scientists discovered that the brain activity patterns of patients in Group One were comparable to those in Group Three, demonstrating that individuals can still hear surrounding sounds as they approach death.
The research team concluded that some individuals can still hear while in an unresponsive state for several hours before passing away. “We have provided evidence that dying patients may not be able to respond to words from family or doctors, but they can still hear and neurologically respond to simple stimulus chains,” the research team shared.
The study’s results reinforce previous hypotheses, indicating that hearing is the last sense to remain active when a person is nearing death.
“Thus, the advice for families to continue speaking loving words to their dying loved ones for as long as possible is reliable,” stated Lawrence Ward, a professor at the University of British Columbia and the lead author of the study.
