The phenomenon of terminal lucidity first attracted attention when it appeared among people who were cognitively challenged or demented (because otherwise, it might not have been noticed):
There is no current medical explanation for the phenomenon:
In essence, terminal lucidity is a mysterious flash of life and vitality that occurs in people just before they die. It’s most remarkable in people who have dementia, Alzheimer’s, meningitis, brain damage, strokes or were in a coma. There’s no known medical explanation for where this sudden surge of vitality and functionality comes from. In large part because as suddenly as it comes, within a few hours or even a day or two, it fades and the person dies, taking any answers with them.
ZARON BURNETT, “TERMINAL LUCIDITY: THE RESEARCHERS ATTEMPTING TO PROVE YOUR MIND LIVES ON EVEN AFTER YOU DIE” AT MEDIUM/MEL MAGAZINE (SEPTEMBER 26, 2018)
One researcher of such experiences, University of Vienna cognitive scientist professor Alexander Batthyány, holds the Viktor Frankl Chair of Philosophy, Psychology, at the University of Liechtenstein. He became interested in near-death phenomena through his contact with Frankl, a mid-twentieth century psychiatrist and Auschwitz survivor who stressed the importance of meaning in life, via a clinical approach called logotherapy. Batthyány finds it hard to account for terminal lucidity in terms of the “adaptation for survival” of a human animal:
“What we observe with near-death experiences is that they’re enormously ordered, structured, clear thinking and very elaborate experiences. Which, evolutionarily speaking, they’re not very adaptive, yeah? Quite on the contrary. A near-death experience keeps a person much more peaceful than perhaps they should be when they’re defending against an aggressor like death.”
ZARON BURNETT, “TERMINAL LUCIDITY: THE RESEARCHERS ATTEMPTING TO PROVE YOUR MIND LIVES ON EVEN AFTER YOU DIE” AT MEDIUM/MEL MAGAZINE (SEPTEMBER 26, 2018)
Takehome:
While no medical cause is currently known, understanding how dementia can suddenly reverse itself may help us treat it when it first begins to appear.
News, “Do people suddenly gain clarity about life just before dying?” at Mind Matters News
See also: Your mind vs. your brain: Ten things to know