Because consciousness is fundamental the possibility of awareness persisting beyond death cannot scientifically be ruled-out.
Rational atheists will rely on their assumption that life after death is imppssible.
This assumption is not justified by the evidence.
The research into "anomalous information" should be seriously considered.
An excellent paper to start learning about this is called "The Content-Source Problem in Modern Mediumship Research":
http://www.rivier.edu/faculty/pcunningham/Publications/CunninghamJP_Fall-2012-Vol-76-(2)-295-319.pdf