Cadaveric spasm, also known as instantaneous rigor, cataleptic rigidity, or instantaneous rigidity, is a rare form of muscular stiffening which occurs at the moment of death, persists into the period of rigor mortis^[1] and can be mistaken for rigor mortis. The cause is unknown, but usually associated with violent deaths happening with intense emotion. Cadaveric spasm may affect all muscles in the body, but typically only groups, such as the forearms, or hands. Cadaveric spasm is seen in cases of drowning victims when grass, weeds, roots or other materials are clutched, and provides proof of life at the time of entry into the water. A spasm is a sudden, involuntary contraction of a muscle, a group of muscles, or a hollow organ, or a similarly sudden contraction of an orifice. ... For other uses, see Death (disambiguation). ... Rigor mortis is a recognizable sign of death that is caused by a chemical change in the muscles, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff (rigor) and impossible to move or manipulate. ... Emotion, in its most general definition, is an intense neural mental state that arises subjectively rather than through conscious effort and evokes either a positive or negative psychological response to move an organism to action. ... An area of grass-like plants Grass generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Poaceae, botanically regarded as true grasses. ... Weeds may be: Weed, an undesired plant growth (weeds, plural) Slang for Cannabis, the herb used for its psychoactive effects, but also grown into hemp Weeds (television), the 2005 Showtime television series starring Mary-Louise Parker and Elizabeth Perkins. ... Primary and secondary roots in a cotton plant In vascular plants, the root is that organ of a plant body that typically lies below the surface of the soil (compare with stem). ...

References

1. ^ Postmortem Changes and Time of Death