Hearing is the Last Sense to Go When You Die

No one really knows what happens once the body starts to shut down. Obviously, science can give us a glimpse into what one might feel, but really without any first hand experience, it would seem that the whole ordeal of dying is going to stay rather mysterious. However, there is some suspicion that when one dies their senses do not all simply go out at once but rather one after the other. As such, some people believe that as you die you slowly lose your sense of touch, taste, smell, sight, and lastly sound. Based on this people believe that until the very bitter end you are still capable of hearing everything that is going on around you, which is why people take comfort in talking to their loved one until the monitor finally gives in to the everlasting beep.

The theory that the last sense to leave you is sound is often times backed up by a study in which electroencephalograms (EEGS) of peoples brain waves were looked at as they were dying and proved that it was more than likely that the last sense a person would retain would be that of sound. However, upon some very intense research, no such study could actually be found. Since this turned out to be a dead end (pun intended) the closest thing that could verify this theory was the information given to people by hospice workers.

These workers tend to experience death and dying on a daily basis. They believe that this theory holds validity because they have seen people react as they were dying to the words of their family, while others have stories about a patient flat-lining, being brought back, and reciting sentences that were said while they were dying. However, even this is not concrete enough to suggest that even in almost death a person retains the ability to hear. Is theory is really nothing more then a common courtesy said to those in mourning. Food for thought.

-Cassey

SOURCES

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/06/its-easy-to-believe-that-hearing-is-last-sense-to/

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2006/05/18/2809176.htm

http://dying.about.com/od/thedyingprocess/a/process.htm

Edited by Ranine Swaid.