AUTHOR=Lott Dylan T. , Yeshi Tenzin , Norchung N. , Dolma Sonam , Tsering Nyima , Jinpa Ngawang , Woser Tenzin , Dorjee Kunsang , Desel Tenzin , Fitch Dan , Finley Anna J. , Goldman Robin , Bernal Ana Maria Ortiz , Ragazzi Rachele , Aroor Karthik , Koger John , Francis Andy , Perlman David M. , Wielgosz Joseph , Bachhuber David R. W. , Tamdin Tsewang , Sadutshang Tsetan Dorji , Dunne John D. , Lutz Antoine , Davidson Richard J. TITLE=No Detectable Electroencephalographic Activity After Clinical Declaration of Death Among Tibetan Buddhist Meditators in Apparent Tukdam, a Putative Postmortem Meditation State JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.599190 DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2020.599190 ISSN=1664-1078 ABSTRACT=

Recent EEG studies on the early postmortem interval that suggest the persistence of electrophysiological coherence and connectivity in the brain of animals and humans reinforce the need for further investigation of the relationship between the brain’s activity and the dying process. Neuroscience is now in a position to empirically evaluate the extended process of dying and, more specifically, to investigate the possibility of brain activity following the cessation of cardiac and respiratory function. Under the direction of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research was conducted in India on a postmortem meditative state cultivated by some Tibetan Buddhist practitioners in which decomposition is putatively delayed. For all healthy baseline (HB) and postmortem (PM) subjects presented here, we collected resting state electroencephalographic data, mismatch negativity (MMN), and auditory brainstem response (ABR). In this study, we present HB data to demonstrate the feasibility of a sparse electrode EEG configuration to capture well-defined ERP waveforms from living subjects under very challenging field conditions. While living subjects displayed well-defined MMN and ABR responses, no recognizable EEG waveforms were discernable in any of the tukdam cases.