The last sense to go before death is hearing.
When a person is dying, hearing is widely considered to be the last sense to leave the body.
Hospice care experts and even scientific studies also note that when someone becomes unconscious or unresponsive, the persons brain can still process sound tones.
When a person is dying the senses shut down in order of hunger and thirst fading first, followed by a drop in speech as well as vision and touch.
The auditory parts of the human brain can stay active in and during the final hours of life before death, which was found in research using brain wave tests.
When a person is dying, you can still talk, read or sing to the dying person, as the dying person may still hear you even if they can't reply to you.
You should also keep the room calm and even use familiar and comforting words or music when the person is dying.
The transition (or pre-active) stage of dying, which precedes the final "actively dying" phase typically lasts from a couple of weeks to a few months.
During this time, the body begins its natural shutdown.
Common signs during this dying transitional phase include:
Increased sleep: The individual may sleep up to 18 hours a day.
Decreased appetite: The body's natural hunger and thirst mechanisms begin to shut down, leading to a drastically reduced intake of food and fluids.
Physical weakness: Profound fatigue often leaves the person mostly bedbound.
Cognitive changes: Periods of confusion, disorientation to time or place, and mental withdrawal.