University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22902-4754, USA.
Omega (Westport). 2013;68(1):77-87. doi: 10.2190/om.68.1.e.
Terminal lucidity, the unexpected return of mental clarity and memory shortly before the death of patients suffering from severe psychiatric and neurologic disorders, has raised the curiosity of numerous physicians and laypersons in the past. However, this peculiar phenomenon has received little attention in the recent decades. In previous publications, we have presented overviews of cases of terminal lucidity in various neurologic and psychiatric disorders. In this article, we highlight terminal lucidity in persons with mental disabilities, and focus on one of the most remarkable cases that have been reported. We provide biographical background information about the two principal witnesses who reported this case. It concerns the death of Anna Katharina Ehmer, a 26-year-old woman with severe mental disabilities who lived in an institution for people with mental disorders, and who had allegedly never spoken a single word during her life. Yet, she was reported to have sung dying songs for a half hour before she died. The case was reported by the head of this institution and by its chief physician. We consider it difficult to evaluate the authenticity of the case definitively in retrospect. Nevertheless, there are similar cases and a variety of other anomalous brain-related findings we consider worth investigating. Studies into such anomalous cases might improve our concepts of human brain functioning and of mental processing in persons with mental disabilities, and might be of special value for the dying, the bereaved, and caretakers.
意识终末状态，指的是患有严重精神和神经疾病的患者在死亡前突然恢复神志和记忆清晰的现象，这在过去引起了众多医生和非专业人士的好奇心。然而，在最近几十年，这种特殊现象并没有引起太多关注。在之前的出版物中，我们已经对各种神经和精神疾病中的意识终末状态病例进行了概述。在本文中，我们重点介绍了精神障碍患者的意识终末状态，并聚焦于报告的一个最显著的病例。我们提供了报告该病例的两位主要证人的生平背景信息。这涉及一位 26 岁的女性，她患有严重的精神障碍，住在一家精神障碍患者机构，据说她一生从未说过一个字。然而，据说在她去世前半小时，她唱了临终歌曲。该病例由该机构负责人和首席医生报告。我们认为，事后很难明确评估该病例的真实性。然而，类似的病例和其他各种异常的与大脑相关的发现值得我们研究。对这些异常病例的研究可能会改进我们对人类大脑功能和精神障碍患者的精神处理的概念，并且对于临终者、失去亲人的人和护理人员来说可能具有特殊价值。
