Death

==== Neocortical brain death ====
People maintaining that only the [[neo-cortex]] of the brain is necessary for consciousness sometimes argue that only electrical activity should be considered when defining death. Eventually, the criterion for death may be the permanent and irreversible loss of [[cognition|cognitive]] function, as evidenced by the death of the [[cerebral cortex]]. All hope of recovering human thought and [[personality psychology|personality]] is then gone, given current and foreseeable medical technology.<ref name="Zaner-2011">{{Cite book |last=Zaner |first=Richard M. |title=Death: Beyond Whole-Brain Criteria |date=2011 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing Company|Springer]] |isbn=978-94-010-7720-0 |edition=1st |pages=77, 125}}</ref> Even by whole-brain criteria, the determination of brain death can be complicated.