Research from the University of British Columbia suggests people who are dying can hear, even when they’re unconscious and near death.
Elizabeth Blundon, who recently graduated from UBC with a PhD in psychology, led the study showing the brain activity of unresponsive dying patients is very similar to when they were responsive and to a control group.
Blundon says the study, which was published recently in Scientific Reports, doesn’t answer questions about whether patients can understand who’s talking or what is being said.
But she says the findings show families should take comfort in talking to their dying loved ones.
Hilary Jordan of Victoria says the research gives her solace about talking to her husband Ian, a police officer who died two years ago.
She spent 30 years talking to him as he lay unconscious in a hospital after an on-duty crash that led to a head injury.
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