AWARE—AWAreness during REsuscitation

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the AWARE study, led by Sam Parnia and a team of researchers, which investigates consciousness during cardiac arrest. The study reveals that 2% of cardiac arrest survivors exhibit full awareness despite being clinically unconscious, supporting previous findings on near-death experiences (NDEs). Notably, the study employed a hidden image to objectively assess awareness during resuscitation, challenging the notion that consciousness ceases when brain function is impaired. This research has implications for understanding PTSD and cognitive deficits in survivors.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of cardiac arrest and resuscitation protocols
  • Familiarity with near-death experiences (NDEs)
  • Knowledge of cognitive psychology related to trauma and PTSD
  • Awareness of research methodologies in clinical studies
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the methodologies used in the AWARE study, particularly regarding objective evidence of consciousness
  • Explore the implications of NDEs on cognitive psychology and PTSD treatment
  • Investigate other studies on consciousness during medical emergencies
  • Learn about the ethical considerations in conducting research on unconscious patients
USEFUL FOR

Medical professionals, researchers in cognitive psychology, and anyone interested in the intersection of consciousness and emergency medicine will benefit from this discussion.

microsansfil
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Hello,

http://www.resuscitationjournal.com/article/S0300-9572(14)00739-4/fulltext

First about people who are writing the article :

Sam Parnia,Ken Spearpoint,Gabriele de Vos,Peter Fenwick,Diana Goldberg,Jie Yang,JiawenZhu,Katie Baker,Hayley Killingback, Paula McLean,Melanie Wood,A.Maziar Zafari,Neal Dickert,Roland Beisteiner,Fritz Sterz,Michael Berger,Celia Warlow,Siobhan Bullock,Salli Lovett,Russell Metcalfe Smith McPara,Sandra Marti-Navarette,Pam Cushing,Paul Wills,Kayla Harris,Jenny Sutton,Anthony Walmsley,Charles D.Deakin,Paul Little,Mark Farber,Bruce Greyson, Elinor R.Schoenfelda- Stony Brook Medical Center,State University of New York at Stony Brook,NY,USA
b-Hammersmith Hospital Imperial College,University of London,UK
c- Montefiore Medical Center,New York,USA
d-University Hospital Southampton,Southampton,UK
e-Royal Bournemouth Hospital,Bournemouth,UK
f-St Georges Hospital,University of London,UK
g-Emory University School of Medicine& Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center,Atlanta,USA
h-Medical University of Vienna,Austria
i - Northampton General Hospital, Northampton,UK
j-Lister Hospital, Stevenage,UK
k- Cedar Sinai,USA
l-Croydon University Hospital,UK
m-James Paget Hospital,UK
n-Ashford & StPeters NHS Trust,UK
o-Addenbrookes Hospital, University of Cambridge,UK
p-East Sussex Hospital,East Sussex,UK
q-Indiana University,Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis,USA
r-University of Virginia,Charlottesville,VA,US A

This studie supports other recent studies that have indicated consciousness may be present despite clinically undetectable consciousness.

What is your point of view ?

Patrick
 
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From the article:

Conclusions
Cardiac Arrest survivors commonly experience a broad range of cognitive themes, with 2% exhibiting full awareness. This supports other recent studies that have indicated consciousness may be present despite clinically undetectable consciousness. This together with fearful experiences may contribute to PTSD and other cognitive deficits post CA.

I've had patients who could hear us talking while we worked on them and they were unconscious. That's one of the reasons I make a habit of talking to all of my Pts, including the unconscious ones. I haven't known any CA Pts who have said they were aware of what was going on, but it seems plausible that a few may.
 
Back in May I participated in a debate for Intelligence Squared regarding http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/upcoming-debates/item/1020-death-is-not-final At the time I was updating myself on the published literature regarding alleged near death experiences or NDEs, and noticed that the http://www.horizonresearch.org/main_page.php?cat_id=38 (AWAreness during REsuscitation) had been completed but the data not yet published. I was disappointed that I would not have these results available to me during the debate.
I had read about the study several years earlier. This is a prospective study of cardiac arrest patients to not only describe their NDEs when they occur, but to conduct a large prospective test looking for objective evidence of conscious awareness during resuscitation. The lead researcher, Sam Parnia, is a believer in NDEs, but designed a study theoretically capable of finding objective evidence.

The multi-center study involved placing an image in a location that was hidden from normal view but could be viewed by a person floating above their body during an NDE. This could be a way to objectively differentiate between the two leading hypotheses. Parnia and others believe that reports of NDEs represent actual awareness during cardiac arrest when the brain is not functioning. This, of course, would be compelling evidence for cognition separate from brain function.

Continued...
 
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Hello,

Thank for your answer. This is awesome

http://www.alphagalileo.org/AssetViewer.aspx?AssetId=90110&CultureCode=en

57 year old man described the perception of observing events from the top corner of the room and continued to experience a sensation of looking down from above. He accurately described people, sounds, and activities from his resuscitation (Table 2 provides quotes from this interview).

Patrick