My wife has severe dementia and was admitted to the hospital for stroke symptoms. A near-stroke was confirmed, but IV antibiotics resulted in a fast cognitive improvement within 12 hours. When she returned home the next evening, she exhibited what's called "paradoxical lucidity" (PL) for a period of two days. She was able to laugh and communicate as if she had returned to her normal self. I had not heard of this phenomenon until I read this article, “It’s You”: Caregiver and Clinician Perspectives on Lucidity in People Living With Dementia. There are many online articles about paradoxical lucidity, including some that give me hope that, now or eventually, there may be therapeutic methods to generate lucid episodes in patients with dementia. The "Conclusion" of this article alludes to that: https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1016/j.jalz.2019.04.002. Here's another: Paradoxical lucidity: A potential paradigm shift for the neurobiology and treatment of severe dementias.
I have read of many instances of PL experienced by participants on this forum. It is an interesting phenomenon. Thanks for posting the article.
It is fascinating! If only these episodes could be triggered for study.