QUOTE : Consciousness is the product of electrochemical signalling in the neurons of your brain. So when the brain stops functioning fully, your consciousness, or to a broader aspect your mind ceases to exist with its unique individualistic qualities. It's like the soothing flow of water. It is only water as long as its internal realm of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen, remains intact. If you break that structure which we call H20, it ceases to be water. Likewise, a mind remains a mind, as long as its neural structure remains intact. If you mess with this structure, then the entire personality of the mind may get radically altered. And if the neural structure inside your head stops working, then your mind ceases to exist forever. So, as long as you have a functional brain, you exist, and the moment that brain dies you die.