WATCH: Painful, poetic and peaceful. This is what happens in your brain moments before you die!

Most of us have held onto the idea that our lives will 'flash before our eyes' before we die.

We imagine that memories of our time on Earth since we were born will play out like an old movie. 

Well, imagine no more. For years we've always wondered what our body experiences when we pass on....

READ MORE: Mummified body of Italian woman found two years after death

Research published on Tuesday in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience details a man who was connected to an MRI after he suffered a heart attack and later died.

The scans, which had never been captured on a dying human before, showed the man experiencing Theta waves, the brain waves associated with memories, meditation, and dreaming right before — and about 15 seconds after — his heart stopped beating. 

So that's it! A highlight reel of life's memories may flash before your eyes when you die - a first-of-its kind study suggests. 

READ MORE: Kuli Roberts family speaks of 'profound sadness' at death of media personality

The findings raise questions about the actual point at which life really ends and may provide comfort to loved ones of the deceased, says lead study author Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon now at the University of Louisville, told Business Insider. 

The research traces back all the way to 2016. 

An 87-year-old man with bleeding in his skull and brain sought treatment at a Canadian hospital. The doctors, including Zemmar, removed the clot, but three days later, the man developed seizures. 

READ MORE: Riky Rick's family says his wife Bianca Naidoo is "inconsolable"

According to the lead study author, the medical team monitored the patient with an electroencephalogram, or EEG, to identify the cause of the seizures. 

The man went into cardiac arrest and died before they could find the appropriate treatment.

"This is why it's so rare, because you can't plan this. No healthy human is gonna go and have an EEG before they die, and in no sick patient are we going to know when they're gonna die to record these signals," Zemmar shared. 

The EEG showed that, 15 seconds before the patient's heart stopped beating, he experienced high-frequency brainwaves called gamma oscillations, as well as some slower oscillations including theta, delta, alpha, and beta. These patterns are associated with concentration, dreaming, meditating, memory retrieval, and flashbacks, ZME Science reported. 

LISTEN: Carol Ofori celebrates 'Gorgeous Grandma Day' with memories of her grandmother

"And surprisingly, after the heart stops pumping blood into the brain, these oscillations keep going," Zemmar told Insider. "So that was extremely surprising for us to see." 

So this is what happened...

READ MORE: Darren Maule and Keri Miller share their special memories of Terence Pillay

Do the things that make you happy, no matter what! 

We want you to have that reel looking delightful and peaceful feeling as it plays back your time on Earth.

Main Image Courtesy: Unsplash