Brain death is not the same as coma, because SOMEONE in a coma is unconscious but still ALIVE. Brain death occurs when a critically ill patient dies sometime after being placed on life support. This situation can occur after, for example, a heart attack or stroke. The heart CONTINUES to beat while the ventilator delivers oxygen to the lungs (the heart can initiate its own beating without nerve impulses from the brain) but, despite the beating heart and warm skin, the person is dead. Since the brain has stopped working, the person won’t breathe if the ventilator is switched off.Signs of brain deathSome of the signs of brain death include:The PUPILS don’t RESPOND to light.The person shows no reaction to pain.The eyes don’t blink when the eye surface is touched (corneal reflex).The eyes don’t move when the head is moved (oculocephalic reflex).The eyes don’t move when ice water is poured into the ear (oculo-vestibular reflex).There is no gagging reflex when the back of the throat is touched.The person doesn’t breathe when the ventilator is switched off.An electroencephalogram test shows no brain activity at all.