Scientists decode why memories come back to some dementia patients before death

Dementia has become rampant among human beings who are pushed into a deep mental abyss, devoid of memories and remembrance.

It has been termed as "the long goodbye". Even though the person remains alive, memories fade away slowly and irreversibly due to dementia.

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Dementia eventually snatches away the ability of a person to communicate, eat and drink on their own, recognise family members and understand where they are.

From the19th century, caregivers andhealth-careworkers have described people suffering from dementia as becoming lucid.

Healthcare workers say that such people were engaging in meaningful conversations, making jokes, sharing memories whichwere assumedto have been lost, and even asking for meals.

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According to the study, an estimated43 per cent of peoplego through brief lucidity and then die within 24 hours, and 84 per cent die within a week.

Here's why this occurs?

The term "terminal lucidity" was coined by researchers Michael Nahm and Bruce Greyson in 2009 since it was registered that such lucid episodes often occurred just before death.

However, studies suggest that not all such lucid episodes indicate that death is imminent.As per one study, many people suffering from advanced dementia have shown brief memories of theirownselves more than six months before dying.

There have also been reports of cases of lucidity in other conditions such as meningitis and schizophrenia - which affect the thinking skills or the brain - and in people who have brain tumours or have sustained a brain injury.

The moments of lucidity which do not necessarily indicate death are sometimes called paradoxical lucidity. They are considered as paradoxical as it goes against the expected course of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.

However, such episodes of lucidity are temporary and do not hint at any reversal of neurodegenerative disease.

Scientistsstruggle to find cause of terminal lucidity

Scientists have been struggling to explain why terminal lucidity occurs. Few episodes of lucidity were noted to have occurred when the patient's loved ones were around him or her.

Some studies have also hinted at music improving lucidity.

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However, many episodes of lucidity do not have a distinct trigger. New York University's research team has speculated that changes in brain activity before death may lead to terminal lucidity.

Notably, not everyone with advanced dementia experiences episodes of lucidity just before death.

(With inputs from agencies)