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“The boundaries of consciousness may not coincide with those of the brain”
🇪🇸 Spain /Health & Science

“The boundaries of consciousness may not coincide with those of the brain”

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Interview Named sources Context piece
  • Researcher Álex Escolà-Gascón examines near-death experiences, Marian apparitions and alleged possessions as part of what he calls the “science of the unknown.”
  • A study involving about 15,000 patients in 13 hospitals in Spain and the United Kingdom found higher-than-chance recall of sounds played during cardiac arrest.
  • He says the findings do not prove an afterlife but raise questions about whether conscious experience ends exactly where current models place the brain’s limits.

Álex Escolà-Gascón works in a territory that has long sat between scientific inquiry and sensationalism. His research examines Marian apparitions, near-death experiences and alleged possessions, not to prove the supernatural, but to test what science can explain and what still resists explanation.

He calls this field the “science of the unknown,” focused on experiences linked to questions about consciousness, life and death. Escolà-Gascón argues that recurring human experiences should not simply be dismissed. Researchers should confront them, measure their manifestations and identify the limits of what their methods can establish.

One research project drew on about 15,000 patients at 13 hospitals in Spain and the United Kingdom. During prolonged cardiac arrest, researchers played sounds, including familiar recordings of the sea and wind, as well as melodies created for the experiment that patients had never heard. Survivors were later asked what they remembered.

I personally believe in God and believe that human consciousness encounters God, but that is my belief, not a scientific answer.

— Álex Escolà-GascónHe separated his religious beliefs from the conclusions of his scientific work.

The study found recall levels above what would be expected by chance: about seven in 10 for familiar sounds and six in 10 for the new melodies. Escolà-Gascón said the result suggests that some component of experience may persist under extreme biological conditions. It does not demonstrate life after death, he said, but it does challenge assumptions about the limits of consciousness.

He draws a firm line between personal faith and scientific conclusions. “I personally believe in God and believe that human consciousness encounters God, but that is my belief, not a scientific answer,” he said. Asked whether consciousness survives the brain, he did not claim to know. His conclusion is narrower: the boundaries of conscious experience may not exactly match the boundaries traditionally assigned to the brain.

Science of the unknown

— Álex Escolà-GascónHe used this term for research into marginal phenomena connected to fundamental questions about consciousness and death.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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