A surge of electrical activity in the brain may cause near-death experiences among survivors, according to the BBC News.
US researchers studied dying rats and found high levels of brainwaves at the point of their demise.
The researchers confirmed that this phenomenon can give rise to humans' heightened state of consciousness.
The result of the research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Jimo Borjigin, lead author of the study, told the BBC News that a lot of people assume that the brain of a human is no longer active when they are very near their deaths, but this isn't necessarily the case.
Dr. Borjigin confirmed that the brains of human become more active during the dying process compared to when they are awake or alive.
Scientists at the University of Michigan monitored nine rats while they were dying and measured a sharp increase in high-frequency brainwaves called gamma oscillations, 30 seconds after the heart of the rats stopped beating.
Dr. Borjigin said that it may be feasible that the same thing is what humans experience at the time of their death. An elevated brain activity and consciousness may trigger near-death visions.
However, he said that the results of their study which made use of rats needs to be carried out to humans first before it can be concluded that the same gamma oscillations exist on both.
