# What would bringing someone back actually mean? Clinical distinction. The founder’s ambition is to bring people and animals back long after brain death (mors encephali). A serious research program must begin by defining what would count as success, separating the terminus a quo (starting laboratory condition) from the terminus ad quem (final endpoint): living cells in vitro, a functioning organ ex vivo, an awake organism in vivo, recovered memoria, and continuity of the original individual are distinct endpoints. A result at one level cannot automatically establish a result at the next. Canonical page: https://givegigs.com/wiki/necro-chapter-definitions Last updated: 2026-11-09T18:58:11.921Z Parent topic: [necromancer-neuroscience](https://givegigs.com/wiki/necromancer-neuroscience) ## Contents - [Overview](#wiki-section-overview-1) - [Chapter notes](#wiki-section-chapter-notes-2) - [Dossier section](#wiki-section-dossier-link-3) ## Overview Clinical distinction. This page expands the “What would bringing someone back actually mean?” chapter in the neuroscience collection. ## Chapter notes The founder’s ambition is to bring people and animals back long after brain death (mors encephali). A serious research program must begin by defining what would count as success, separating the terminus a quo (starting laboratory condition) from the terminus ad quem (final endpoint): living cells in vitro, a functioning organ ex vivo, an awake organism in vivo, recovered memoria, and continuity of the original individual are distinct endpoints. A result at one level cannot automatically establish a result at the next. Cardiac arrest means circulation has stopped; some arrests can be reversed through emergency treatment. Brain death, or death by neurologic criteria, is a determination of death after permanent loss of brain function, including the brainstem. The 2023 US multisociety guideline requires a rigorous clinical process that addresses prerequisites and confounding conditions. Coma and other disorders of consciousness are not interchangeable with brain death. Research findings about surviving cells post mortem do not establish reversal of death by neurologic criteria. Necromancer’s proposed endpoint ladder would therefore name the measurement before announcing a breakthrough, honoring the scientific onus probandi (burden of proof). Restored metabolism would be reported as metabolism. Recovered network activity would be reported with its spatial and temporal limits. A claim of meaningful recovery in a living organism would require appropriate functional evidence and long-term follow-up. A claim about the same individual returning (idem per idem) would carry an additional burden that biology and philosophy have not resolved. ## Dossier section [Open this exact section in the Necromancer dossier](/necromancer#definitions). The original chapter status is “Clinical distinction.” ## Sources - [Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37821233/) --- This article is collaboratively maintained. Check the canonical page and cited sources for the latest context.