For decades, researchers, hospice caregivers and stunned family members have watched with awe as people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia suddenly regain their memories and personalities just before death. To their family members, it might seem like a second lease on life, but for many experienced medical workers, it can be a sign that the end is near. Christopher Kerr, CEO of Hospice and Palliative Care Buffalo in New York State, has studied the lucid visions of several hundred terminally ill people. He says these events usually occur in the last few days of life. This “terminal lucidity” involves the unexpected return of cognitive faculties such as speech and connection with other people. There seems to be clear evidence that they’re not merely aware of their surroundings, but additionally understanding what their relationships to other people are. Researchers agree that it's almost like they’re preparing themselves to die. A full explanation for the conscious experiences of dying people remains elusive, but research increasingly paints a picture of death as an incredibly active and complex process, and, perhaps more important, a humanized one.
