Gratitude Friday 11 8 24 – Memory Gospel

Image of what is happening in a human brain in the final moments

The title of this post comes from a song by Moby of the same title. I like some of his music, but from the first time I heard this arrangement, it really resonated with me. I was listening to it a few weeks ago when considering what brain science is learning about our cognition and other functions in the final moments as we are dying. Sorry all, these are the kinds of things I find fascinating. Read on or stop, your call. 

This is new information on a topic that is as old as we are. What could be more fascinating, at least for me. This is not my first post on the topic in April I wrote Reflecting On the Last Recall. Neuroscientists are learning that a lot of things occur in our brains as we die, often for several minutes after other things shut off. They were able to examine recorded activity of a dying human brain in a way that has not ever occurred before. Researchers found rhythmic brain wave patterns around the time of death that are similar to those occurring during dreaming, memory recall, and meditation. We now have some evidence of what happens when we die that we did not have before.

Directly from this source: “The findings revealed that as the person was dying, there was an increase in brain waves known as gamma oscillations that typically occur during dreaming and memory retrieval, as well as others such as delta, theta, alpha, and beta oscillations. Brain waves are rhythmic electrical activity in normal living human brains, and different types of these waves are linked to different states. Citing an example, researchers said gamma oscillations are linked to high-cognitive functions like concentrating, dreaming, meditation, memory retrieval and conscious perception, like those linked to memory flashbacks.”

I guess that as I get closer to 60, the end chapters are things I contemplate more now, and not necessarily in a bad way. I recently read that at age 60 the dice roll odds of the big dirt nap begin to increase. There is a chart here. It is also true that for all of us, the chance of dying is 100%. Nobody gets out of here alive, and we have to be ok with that as there really is no other option. We can make what we have of our time here. The thing we do not know is how we go. As most do, I hope to live a deeply satisfying, productive and long life in which I can do the things I want all the way up to the end and die peacefully in my sleep. I don’t know if this is in my cards. That is the other thing. Few of us know how we end. There are times when terminally ill people can make peace with their lives as they know the final lines of the song of their lives.

It is in this light that I find the science of what happens at the end of life both comforting and fascinating. When I was listening to the Moby piece with the title that fits with the subject here, I imagined what might be on my final reel when my life is ending, and my brain is turning off the lights as the curtain drops for the last time. Some may think this is morbid, but I do not. I want to create more positive moments for that reel. I also hope to be on a few of the reels of people I love and in a good way.

Readers, if you made it this far (few, I suspect). Try this mental exercise. Consider what you want on your final playback tape of your life. You and I have today to make more of those things. It is actually all we truly have. My reel would have the Moby song and perhaps some other tunes and would consist of a whole lot of people who helped me become who I am and some really great moments in life with people I have loved. Some are still here; others are already gone. You may see this as morbid, I do not.

What is on your reel? What can you do today to add something to your tape that has meaning in your life?

I am grateful I get today to decide these things just for today, it is all I have. It is all you have as well.

I am grateful for recovery, which continues to teach me this lesson.

What are you grateful for today?