Resumo

MACHADO CURBELO, Calixto. Nueva definición de la muerte humana, según mecanismos fisiopatológicos de generación de la conciencia. Rev cubana med [online]. 1996, vol.35, n.3, pp. 183-195. ISSN 1561-302X.

During centuries, the irreversible absence of spontaneous cardiorespiratory function was considered as a determinant of the individual's death. However, with the development of intensive therapy, the integrated functions within the brain began to be considered as the main reason to state a definition of human death. There are 3 major trends related to the definition of death in the human being based on neurologic foundations: those which refer to the loss of the essential qualities which identify the human nature; those refering to the loss of body integration as a whole , and those which intend to define the position of the brain that should stop functioning for a person to be dead. These definitions related to human death and oriented to brain functions are discussed, and it is concluded that consciousness (taking into consideration its 2 components: capacity and content), which neural basis are situated in the socalled reticular formation/cortex, is the function which provides the essential human atributes, and at the same time, integrates the functioning of the body as a whole. Thus, human death is defined as the irreversible loss of the capacity and the content of consciousness.

Palavras-chave : DEATH; UNCONSCIOUSNESS; HISTORY OF MEDICINE.