Why do dead bodies twitch

We told you this would be morbid. In light-skinned people, your body won't start taking on that stale deathly hue until about 15 to 20 minutes after death, at which point the lack of blood flow to the capillaries starts to drain the colour out of you.

And if that sounds gross, think about this - because your heart has stopped pumping, there's nothing pushing your blood around your body, so depending on how your body is positioned when you die, the blood will end up pooling around down the bottom.

As the video above explains , the longer this 'blood pooling' is left to sit, the more your skin will take on a reddish-purple discolouration, which will hit its maximum intensity at around the hour mark.

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What Astronomical Instrument Measures the Brightness Why Do Maggots Grow on Meat? Even if you find it creepy to talk about death in general, and what a dead body can do in particular, the weirdness of it all can be lessened ever so slightly by looking at it from a scientific standpoint, including what types of activities continue on once the heart stops ticking.

Because believe it or not, the body can do plenty of things even after it's technically dead. The body will start to shut down slowly. But even after a person is declared dead, movements, sounds, growth, and change can still occur.

Dead bodies have been known to make noise , to move, to digest food, and some studies have even shown that our genes remain active. This has a lot to do with the rapid changes that occur, that can affect the muscles, skin, and other organs. As Rappaport says, "The process of rigor mortis reaches its peak at about 13 hours. Once the body has completely stiffened, the muscle contractions start to soften again and the bacteria in and on the body starts the process of decomposition — approximately hours later.

Home Archives About Contact. Can the Dead Move? By Danit Brown Posted January 25, Media Player Error Update your browser or Flash plugin.

Nerves The anecdote about fingers moving after death, at least, has a scientific explanation. Head Turning, Groaning Many years ago, even more gruesome movements were made by the dead.