People experiencing terminal lucidity have typically suffered from dementia for a long time. Often they are gone so far they can’t talk or recognize their family any more.
Yet a few hours before their death, they regain the ability to speak for a few hours and may even be able to access their memories. It’s as if they’ve been granted a last chance to say goodbye to their loved ones.
This phenomenon is rare but well documented and real. It has been observed even for severe cases of Alzheimer’s, a disease that is assumed to cause an irreversible deterioration in brain function. What causes terminal lucidity, or whether it offers any clues for therapeutic development, is surprisingly underexplored.
Nehaveigur 