Last sense to leave the human body

[natalie_1982]

When I was a child someone told me that the hearing is the last sense to leave the body after death i.e. anything you'd like to say to the deceased you can say and they'll still hear it for about 2 hours after death.  I understand hat they are actually dead and that if they could hear then it wouldn't register, but does anyone know if this is true and if so, how do you know?

[Quizmonster]

Hearing is commonly claimed to be the last of the senses to leave the body before death. However, once death occurs, none of the senses are functional, so the idea of speaking to a dead person two hours after death is a non-starter...at least in the sense that he/she might somehow be aware of it.

[druiaghtagh]

Not really possible for hearing to comtunue as brain death starts to occur aboiut 3 minutes after you stop breathing

[druiaghtagh]

sorry, typo,... continue

[Ember]

How do they know its the last sense to leave the body, who told them? The Dead?

[TOSHA]

Not an expert, I've never died before, logically,

1. When breathing ceases, approximately three minutes later brain functions stop.

2. Assume death's a result of cessation of breathing.

3. The brain, I would assume is capable of responding to all of the main inputs to which it is connected.

4. I think that smell fails first, no respitory movement. This requires air movement to activate olfactory senses.

5. Taste, second, for much the same reason.

It's a close run thing between Sight, Feel and Hearing. Eye input depends on whether open, feel on touch, hearing, sound in order to respond, I would re-phrase the question, The brain continues to function after it's biological support systems have stopped, [3 mins] if eyes are closed, no contact is made with the body, [The physical responses fade quite quickly?] the function responding to stimulus, would be, hearing, under normal conditions, rarely total silence.

    In trauma cases, such as accidents, often the use of sound, speech, keeps people aware, tactile or visual stimulus appear less effective., but tend to respond to audio stimulus, keep them talking, alert, I think this is a natural function of the bodies defensive and survival mechanisms, [chemical/hormonal].

In conclusion, It's highly likely hearing is last to fail. The final part of your question, is the key part, the brain, possibly is still acting on the sensory inputs, however, it can make no response, as the other functions would not be present.

Using electronics, brain activity may well determine some activity, may even confirm specific areas of the brain being active, but no way of knowing if it is a cognitive type of activity, or what it means.

So if you say goodbye, the brain may actually be dealing with the information, but no way of responding in a manner which would indicate, thanks?