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By  Kim Lang Graduate Student, Neuroscience Emory University  This post was written as part of the Contemporary Issues in Neuroethics course  As scientists, we’re generally a skeptical bunch (I’ll leave speculation of whether that is a cause and/or effect of a career in science for the Comments section).  While 95% of the American public believe in a deity or higher power (83% believe in God and 12% believe in a higher power) [1], only 51% of surveyed scientists believe the same (33% believe in God and 18% believe in a universal spirit or higher power) (Figure 1). [2] According to surveys, this discrepancy is nothing new.  In 1914, sociologist James H. Leuba found that 42% of the polled US scientists believed in God while 58% did not. [1,3]  In 1996, Larry Witham and Edward Larson repeated Leuba’s survey and found that 40% of scientists believe in a personal God while 45% do not 4 .  While the wording of questions can be critiqued [3], the overall...

Surely you’ve seen this in film or read something like it in fiction. The victim of a tragic accident is critically wounded and rendered unconscious, let’s say in a motor vehicle crash. Within minutes, an emergency medical team arrives at the scene and drags his limp frame out of the crumpled car. Paramedics surround him, now splayed out the roadside, working frantically to restore his breathing and pulse. Each passing second is precious. With every tick of the clock, his vital organs lose more of their precious oxygen and energy required to function. As the victim’s brain becomes increasingly hypoxic (lacking oxygen), his neurons execute coordinated self-destruct programs, and the chance of restoring his consciousness diminishes. Lacking a heartbeat, respiration, and autonomic reflexes that indicate brainstem function, he meets criteria for clinical death ( CD ). The medical team continues to toil, and the hope of recovery dims for our fallen protagonist. Here’s where the story gets ...