In dementia care and research, it’s widely accepted that people living with advanced dementia often lose the ability to connect and communicate as they once did. However, one phenomenon has been the exception to the rule. “Paradoxical lucidity” is a term used to describe brief moments in which individuals with severe dementia suddenly regain clarity, communicate, and reconnect in ways thought to be long lost. While care partners witness and commonly share experiences with clinicians like Dr. Jason Karlawish, paradoxical lucidity remains understudied. In a recent study, Dr. Karlawish partnered with anthropologist Dr. Justin Clapp to explore the meaning and implications of these moments, both for our understanding of dementia and for the people living with it.

On this Season 3 premiere of The Age of Aging, we explore paradoxical lucidity—what it is, what it reveals, and how it reshapes the experiences of care and connection in the final stages of life.

We begin with an essay by writer Anne Basting, reflecting on a powerful lucid moment her mother experienced during a holiday meal. Then, we hear from Dr. Karlawish and Dr. Clapp, who explain how their research sheds new light on this phenomenon. Finally, Elizabeth Donnarumma, a caregiver interviewed for their study, shares what her mother’s lucid moment meant for her.

Resources

• This week’s “Beautiful Question”: What kind of food makes you happy? Leave us a message at (571) 449-6474

• Read Anne Basting’s essay, “Christmas Crackers,” and subscribe to her Substack

• Learn more about paradoxical lucidity

Special thanks to Anne Basting, Jason Karlawish, MD, Justin Clapp PhD, MPH, and Elizabeth Donnarumma for being a part of this episode.

The Age of Aging is a Penn Memory Center production hosted by Editorial Director Terrence Casey and Producer Jake Johnson, in partnership with the Penn FTD Center, the Penn Institute on Aging, and UPenn’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Contributors include Nicolette Calcavecchia, Dalia Elsaid, Marie Ingegneri, Jason Karlawish, Emily Largent, Meg McCarthy, and Meaghan Sharp.