Threshold: Terminal Lucidity and the Border of Life and Death

Batthyány (editor of Foundations of Near-Death Research), a professor of existential psychotherapy at the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, argues in this thought-provoking account that his research team is on its way to proving the existence of the “soul.” He posits that the evidence lies in the phenomenon of terminal lucidity: the deathbed “return of cognitive function and communication ability in patients whose diagnosis renders such a return unlikely.” If mind and self are merely a brain function, he asks, how could they resurface in the face of irreversible neurological impairment, including dementia? Batthyány’s argument comprises three strands: a research report on terminal lucidity, gathered from such data as questionnaires completed by the recently deceased’s family or caretakers; eyewitness statements and anecdotes; and discussion of related themes and tangential phenomena, including near-death experiences. While the author’s meditations on the soul’s existence can sometimes read as sentimental (“our life is a meaningful adventure that is wonderfully protected and preserved. Just by having become a self, we are... enormously gifted”), his in-depth, thoughtful investigation of a perennially fascinating phenomenon will garner interest, especially in the eyewitness accounts he spotlights, including of a woman with an “utterly destroyed” cerebral cortex who began singing “her own death songs” shortly before she died. Though Batthyány might raise some eyebrows, he has more than enough to keep the curious captivated. (Sept.)