Impressive experience: witnessing '
terminal lucidity' during several hours, of someone who was terminally ill, drowsy and delirious for days on end (because of a lethal disease ravaging the human body + high dose of morphine as analgesic) in a palliative department of a hospital.
Unlike before and after those hours: lucid, coherent and focused, vividly recalling memories from decades ago. Some kind of final-stage epiphany before relapsing into a lowered state of mind as death approached quickly. It was surreal, kept you puzzled how this sudden 'false positive' of apparent drastic 'recovery' or 'immunity' defied logic (seemingly incompatible with the serious medical condition + medical staff saying that death was imminent), whilst realizing very well that it was a very brief 'window of opportunity' for the final goodbye with a conscious state of mind (still fully responsive instead of semi-comatose).
Seems as if the human brain gives a final push in the critical condition, like a massive adrenalin shot, basic instinct of survival, granting full access with a boosted 'search engine' to all memory vaults before the final shutdown, signing out forever.
The human brain is way more intricate and sophisticated than we generally assume.
Also reminds of incandescent light bulbs sometimes getting brighter before burning out due to '
thermal runaway'. As the filament in the bulb weakens, its resistance increases, causing it to draw more current and produce more light. This increased current hastens the bulb's demise, leading to its eventual failure. Also think of the flame of a candle often burning brighter in the terminal stage (final spur).