The first major account of terminal lucidity: the remarkable return of clarity and cognition at the end of life. Terminal lucidity is a relatively common but poorly understood phenomenon. Near the end of life, many people — including those who have suffered brain injuries or strokes, or have been silenced by mental illness or deep dementia — experience what seems a miraculous return.

They regain their clarity and energy, are able to talk with families and caregivers, recall their lives, and often appear to be aware of their nearing death. In this remarkable book, cognitive scientist and Director of the Viktor Frankl Institute Dr Alexander Batthyány offers the first major account of terminal lucidity, utilising hundreds of case studies and his research in the related field of near-death studies to explore the mind, the body, the nature of consciousness, and what the living can learn from those who are crossing the border from life to death. Astonishing, authoritative, and deeply moving, Threshold opens a doorway into one of life’s — and death’s — most provocative mysteries.