Brain Disinhibition Hypothesis
More from the Parnia lab. They have posted a graphic of their hypothesis on Instagram.
I like that they use the word “possible” in front of marker. I don’t like that they have 85 patients had EEG data with 20% of survivors having REDs right beneath it. For those who haven’t been following this or read the wording under fig 2 in the paper, the assumption will be that there is EEG data for this 20%. There is none.
Anyway, I have said enough about of what I think of this in previous posts, so won’t repeat that here. This is a very neutral hypothesis. It is an interesting idea. I do hope they are continuing with the study. The website implies they are.
AwareofAware 
The real question for me is this “dimensions of reality” phrase that keeps coming up in their publications and interviews. I’m surprised that no one in the media has pressed them to elaborate on what exactly that means and what implications that would have for further research. To many followers of this blog and the general public that means afterlife or something like it. I would love to hear the Parnia group’s thoughts on this.
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I agree. Is the word “dimensions” simply a casual term meaning other aspects? Or is this a more formal use of the word “dimensions” from mathematics and physics as in the third dimension, the fourth dimension etc? This would be an unfortunate word to use casually because leading thinkers in afterlife studies populate that consciousness involves higher dimensions that can be understood via math and physics.
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Spelling error: postulate
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I think it’s more of a mathematical usage of the term dimension which is just pretty much a variable. Like when someone says N dimensional, it just means there’s a number of variables that are contained in the concept. I haven’t seen anything to convince me they are using it to mean a metaphysical dimension. The way I interpret what they’re saying is that the brain has a mechanism or mechanisms that inhibit a whole bunch of information or senses that ordinarily would be organized in such a way to prevent it all coming in at once (autism is this kind of disorder) and some how due to the death process that mechanism didn’t work anymore which allows access to parts of the brain in ways were normally wouldn’t have access to. Hence, it allows us to have access to more dimensions.
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And actually I do think that there’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the word dimension because I think people see the word and apply the metaphysical concept of dimension to the mathematical usage (which isn’t a casual usage but jargon), and they’re not compatable concepts.
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KP,
I think the Instagram response saying that REDs are very real experiences and that EEG readings in their view are not causal as well as Sams many recent interviews referring to consciousness as a yet to be discovered scientific entity that uses the brain as a filter would actually lean more on the metaphysical side to be honest.
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Agreed.
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Hi Sean,
I think it is above the media’s heads! My cat is more thoughtful than many journalists.
It is a very clever phrase because it could speak to a materialistic theoretical physics type explanation, but also to a dualist explanation. For instance, saying “different dimensions” would invoke questions about what he means, which dimensions, and whether he is talking about the afterlife. That could put him firmly on the dualist side to those who don’t share that viewpoint.
However, “dimensions of reality” is very different. Use of the word reality “earths” it and to some may suggest it is natural. To those of a more philosophical bent, reality is never what we think it is.
I doubt they will elaborate beyond pointing to what NDErs describe.
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Even if this brain activity correlates with conscious experience, wouldn’t there be so many other things that remain unexplained like verifiable obes even at a physical distance or shared death experiences?
I just find parnia so weird, one day he is a dualist and another a materialist
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Furthermore, didn’t their study report people who had these brain waves and no recollection of experience?
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Correct. Thank you for reminding us of this important detail. Of those interviewed, only 2 EEG data, and these had no recollections. If anything, it would go against what Parnia is saying. However the numbers are too low to draw conclusions.
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He can be very enigmatic.
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In extreme situations for the brain like Alzheimer’s (“disinhibition” here in that so much is shut down?), people can be suddenly aware and speak normally – “terminal lucidity”. Where is it coming from?
Google “Rudy Tanzi” consciousness (who has spoken of this TL and doesn’t know how it happens – world leading Alzheimer’s doctor) for fascinating issues of matter and consciousness.
He says awareness comes first in the universe. This is one way the discussion should head now. I think Sam and team have done much to point in this direction.
Example video,
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I’m not a doctor or scientist, I’m just a mere lawyer who reasons only in terms of facts against and facts for. 3 years ago I was really excited about Sam Parnia’s work and from my little knowledge it seemed to me that one of his arguments was the flatline and the lack of activity in the EGGs. Am I wrong? Supposedly the recent admission of EGG activity although not verified in patients with NDEs, wouldn’t evidence that something physical is happening in the brain after flatlining? If so, shouldn’t the new line of inquiry be: 1) what is the cause of this egg activity? 2) what can this activity enhance in terms of awareness?
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It is more complicated than anyone thought of it before.
There is no question at this point that “something physical” IS happening in the brain after cardiac arrest, yet it has little to do with explaining the origin of it. It is still the same correlation vs causation.
Big step forward though is the fact of discovering well structured, finely tuned brain activity after blood supply stopped that emerges up to an hour into cardiac arrest.
Currently all we know those waves associated with specific types of mental activities (concentration, recollection etc) and it is a hint pointing strongly toward NDE – as this is what is happening and being reported by NDErs, and that is allowing Parnia to hypothesis. Also they are saying those waves are very difficult to detect, they see them like through fog or cloud but they are there and indicate mental process that should not be there in principle according to modern neuroscience. At all.
Resuscitation surely can wake brain – but it is almost guaranteed you would see so much more physically and on eeg once this is happening. If you talk to those who resuscitate they will tell you that at times people can die in the middle of talking, but if you resuscitate you might see conciseness back even with verbal conversation, not necessarily instant coma. Like switch off and then fully on.
All that means nothing in terms of materialism, dualism etc… it is almost irrelevant, totally different discussion. Normally if scientists see something very faint but potentially very important they would work on better strategy to detect it and carefully review. Like they would invent microscope to very closely observe microbes. I would think if Parnia and others to continue – they would need strategy and better tools to detect brainwaves after cardiac arrest.
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I think it is very difficult to develop better methodology in the context of the ER or ICU, but definitely very likely in hypothermic circulatory arrest studies.
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Dr. Melvin Morse says the right temporal lobe is the GODCspot.. Here is his website https://www.melvinmorsemd.com/
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Does anyone know when Sam Parnia book will be published
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They took down the documentary Rethinking Death yesterday. I wish they would just post ut to their website and youtube channel. If anyone knows when they will put it up again, please let me know
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The more I contemplate it, the more intriguing I find the somewhat obscure “new states of consciousness” comment. Yes, there’s an awful lot to unpack there. But if true – assuming that Parnia’s research is leaning in favor of survival of consciousness postmortem – it could mark the incipiency of a whole new comprehension of consciousness unlike any understanding that came before it. “New states of consciousness” already sounds somewhat…ethereal. But with Parnia, you never know.
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Hi Thomas, IMO he has no more idea what is going on than the rest of us who have studied this subject for years. The data he has published certainly sheds absolutely no light on this at all. It makes for good media interest though.
The truth is that the conscious state beyond death is a new state of consciousness, and eternal dimensions are most definitely new dimensions, so in that respect he is using language that doesn’t inflame the materialist scientific community to describe what we all believe to happen during an NDE. All power to him for having the smarts to do this, but we must not allow ourselves into being deceived into thinking this is anything more than it is.
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I agree with you, Ben. Looking at it from that perspective brings one’s feet back down to earth. I’ve also come to the conclusion that no one in the media who has interviewed Dr. Parnia shares the impassioned interest in this subject matter that most people who visit your blog posses. It seems that they follow a check-off list of standard questions that may yield answers that are informative, but it doesn’t take them to the depths required to submit the types of questions being discussed in this blog and elsewhere. So many missed opportunities.
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I wish would release the documentary Rethinking Death. I dont getvwhy its only for private viewing. Never seen that before.
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Good morning Ben, why not also give space to the very important study by Dr Pim van Lommel?
It would be interesting to compare them, combining their strengths.
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Hi,
This study was published back in 2001. It is a good study with a great OBE. I do include a summary of it in my book. I have reviewed past studies a few years ago.
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Im à big fan of Dr. Pim Van Lommel
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it is a study lasting 20 years, from 1986 to 2001 and was published in THE LANCET. In this study it was demonstrated that the nerve cells of the brain tend to decay and therefore it is difficult to recover a sane person after 5 minutes, therefore it is statistically impossible to resuscitate them without serious consequences, they will therefore be incapable of discernment and motor skills of any kind. This happens in 99% of cases, with very rare exceptions. By connecting the person to the electroencephalogram (in a condition of absence of impulses, flat), and to the equipment that demonstrated cardiac arrest; where therefore there was not even this possible residual electrical energy in the brain PEOPLE WERE LIVING AN EXPERIENCE. DMT? Or products of the dying brain? Adrenaline? Is the brain trying to protect itself? Dr Pim Van Lommel has shown that these do not cause the experiences either and that it is not PHYSIOLOGICALLY possible. Because there is one thing that even neurologists must admit is that when we have a “flat” electroencephalogram, it is not only possible not to experience experiences, sensations or memories, but above all it is not possible to MEMORIZE THEM. Memories cannot be accumulated. Obviously beyond the empirical evidence of OBEs, which are already proof in themselves. What Pim van Lommel was trying to demonstrate is that in the absence of biological functions, therefore with clinical death, not only confirmed, prolonged over time, it is NOT scientifically possible for a person not only to experience experiences but also to have the ability to remember them , store them. In short, you cannot recover data from a broken hard disk. So the question is what is holding these memories? What keeps a person’s character alive? Your feelings? Even though they are clinically dead. This is the question that Pin Vam Lommel and his team pose to science in the future. And therefore let us study and try to understand where the conscience was in that situation. After 2001 Vam Lommel continued to study to face and compare himself with other doctors and specialists, he then compared himself with four other studies… in his interview Vam Lommel states that we must try a new scientific approach POST material, otherwise we remain stuck in the believe or not believe phase. He takes the example of the atom that was hypothesized by the ancient Greek philosophers, theorizing it, since as for today’s NDEs they did not have the scientific instruments… discovered and confirmed then in the 40s of the last century. So going back to the four studies following the 2001 one, one American and one English found almost the same percentage of NDEs out of a total of 562. All authors concluded that no physiological or psychological model alone can explain ALL THE ELEMENTS THAT THESE EXPERIENCES HAVE IN COMMON. If we rely on recent discoveries in neurophysiology as well as on the concepts of quantum physics, our consciousness cannot be localized in a given time or space, and this is what patients say after having had an NDE. Everything about the past and future is instantly available, and this is why we talk about non-local consciousness, beyond time and space.
Text taken from a video by Ermanno Azzolini:
a compatriot of mine, very attentive and scrupulous when dealing with the topic of NDEs.
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I read every post on this platform and should comment more often. However, your post is worthy of praise.
Regards
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Thank you! Please do comment if you have something useful to say, or genuinely seek clarification.
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No worries ‘Ben’. I’ll try to get a little bit more involved. It’s just time ATM. There are a few comments that I would like to have responded to.
Leave it with me – I’ll be back 😉
Best,
Paul
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This account from a surgeon its pretty compelling. T
ge first 15 minutes are pretty mucha of what AWARE study was looking for.
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Good find. Thanks for posting it.
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That is possibly the most compelling NDE with OBE I have heard. Very intrigued by his discussion around EEG monitoring, and the flipping in and out of states that they observe when there is no anaesthesia. That is almost certainly what Parnia is observing. The fact he says there is never any recall from patients under anaesthesia means COOL II is possibly doomed to failure, as I said in a previous post, but it may also possibly partly validate Parnia’s hypothesis. I will probably base my next post on this video as it is absolutely amazing, and rich in relevant material. Need to watch the whole thing first!
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I also need to eat my laptop. (Look at original comment!)
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When you mention Parnia’s hypothesis may be partially validated do you mean the one you mention in the cunning plan that consciousness “packs its bags and leaves” or that brain creates consciousness (as scientific american says). Furthermore, do you think obe’s like this prove that consciousness exists outside the body?
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What I mean by possibly partially validating Parnia’s hypothesis – namely that the EEG activity is a result of the brain accessing memories and/or other dimensions, is that as CPR progresses, people have these EEG signals, sometimes more than once and that it COULD be a marker of the consciousness doing the kind of “stuff” that Parnia describes. I need to watch it again, as it is very rich in content.
In answer to your second question…yes, beyond doubt.
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Actually a won’t create a new post. Tim covered this in one our previous discussions. I am often unable to read all the comments as I am so busy, but did everyone a disservice by not following up on this: https://awareofaware.co/2019/10/14/if-aware-ii-doesnt-have-a-hit-ill-eat-my-laptop/#comment-18927
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Does anyone know when Rethinking Death will be released to the public.
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Hi Dave.
Fortuitously I came across an interview of Dr. Parnia that was conducted just over three weeks ago and posted on an website called RNZ. The interview is almost a half hour long. The first few minutes consist of a general discussion about NDEs and the commonalities shared by those who have had them. Afterwards, a sizable bulk of the interview is dedicated to the development of more efficacious resuscitative techniques that Dr. Parnia and his team are promoting as a direct result of the AWARE study findings. It’s in the final leg of the interview where things get interesting (at least for me) by orders of magnitude. But before I continue, I should mention that, once again, Dr. Parnia in this interview resorts to using the ambiguous parlance that left so many of us perplexed and uncertain as to where he stood in regards to NDEs and their causes. Now, put all that aside.
At 18:47, the man conducting the interview asks Dr. Parnia where he stands on the proposed theory that the mind utilizes the brain the same way a TV uses signals to produce an image. In his response, Dr. Parnia explicitly stated that he counts himself among the scientists who DO NOT believe the brain produces consciousness. I find this frank admission quite remarkable and courageous, considering how many opposing factions in this subject matter he may feel pressured to placate. His response also gives us greater access into his way of thinking as well as access to thoughts he may not feel comfortable externalizing. Anyhoo, I’m including the link to the interview in this post. Have a go at it when you get a chance and let me know what you think.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018908278/dr-sam-parnia-life-death-and-in-between
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Good find ThomaslllXX
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Great find Thomas. I suspect RNZ stands for Radio New Zealand. My wife is a Kiwi, so love hearing the Kiwi accent.
I recommend everyone listens to this as it really does summarise exactly where Sam Parnia is at the moment. I will create a short post as not everyone digs through the comments.
Thanks Thomas!
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.
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Yes, Parnia’s position looks much clearer to me, together with his ideas.
Parnia @21:38
RNZ.co.nz interview on 24th Sept 2023 – ‘Dr Sam Parnia: Life, death and in-between’
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“It may well be…science will be able to prove that in the future.”
This time next year Rodney…
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I enjoyed listening to Dr. Parnia. It was a good interview
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It was.
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