Study: Vegetative brains show signs of awareness

[crin63]

HMMM, maybe this is what Terry Schaivo's husband was afraid of when he had her killed.

Study: Vegetative brains show signs of awareness

NEW YORK (AP) — Scientists have detected glimmers of awareness in some vegetative brain-injury patients and have even communicated with one of them — findings that push the boundaries of how to assess and care for such people.

The new research suggests that standard tests may overlook patients who have some consciousness, and that someday some kind of communication may be possible.

In the strongest example, a 29-year-old patient was able to answer yes-or-no questions by visualizing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. The two visualizations sparked different brain activity viewed through a scanning machine.

"We were stunned when this happened," said one study author, Martin Monti of Medical Research Council Cognitive and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge, England. "I find it literally amazing. This was a patient who was believed to be vegetative for five years."

Ever since a research paper four years ago showed apparent signs of awareness in a vegetative patient — one who was included in the new study — families of patients have been clamoring for brain scans, said Dr. James Bernat of Dartmouth Medical School, a spokesman for the American Academy of Neurology.

In fact, a spokeswoman for a patient advocacy group said the organization will urge families to ask about the type of brain imaging used by the researchers.

But experts said more study is needed before the specialized brain scans could be used routinely. "It's still a research tool," Bernat said.

Experts also emphasized that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness. And they said it is not clear what degree of consciousness and mental abilities the signs imply.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/...ive-coma_N.htm

[DragonStryk72]

Um, you mean that she could somehow communicate, despite being in a consistent vegetative state? He would be afraid of this why? The findings weren't known at the time, and he had nothing to do with her being in a vegetative state, so exactly what was he hoping for?

No offense, but simply because he doesn't view her as being really alive doesn't make him wrong. This is a point of personal view, crin. Simply because there is some brain activity does not mean the subject is "living", they're surviving, but that is not a life.

[Gaffer]

Um, you mean that she could somehow communicate, despite being in a consistent vegetative state? He would be afraid of this why? The findings weren't known at the time, and he had nothing to do with her being in a vegetative state, so exactly what was he hoping for?

No offense, but simply because he doesn't view her as being really alive doesn't make him wrong. This is a point of personal view, crin. Simply because there is some brain activity does not mean the subject is "living", they're surviving, but that is not a life.

He was suspected of beating her and causing the brain damage, but nothing could be proved unless she was able to testify.

[Missileman]

Experts also emphasized that only a few tested patients showed evidence of awareness.

So the vast majority were truly vegatative...I wonder if a failure of this awareness test will satisfy those opposed to letting the dead go?

[Mr. P]

So the vast majority were truly vegatative...I wonder if a failure of this awareness test will satisfy those opposed to letting the dead go?

Oh HELL NO!

[crin63]

Um, you mean that she could somehow communicate, despite being in a consistent vegetative state? He would be afraid of this why? The findings weren't known at the time, and he had nothing to do with her being in a vegetative state, so exactly what was he hoping for?

No offense, but simply because he doesn't view her as being really alive doesn't make him wrong. This is a point of personal view, crin. Simply because there is some brain activity does not mean the subject is "living", they're surviving, but that is not a life.

According to her parents and her lawyer she was able to function at some level. I wonder why her husband wouldn't allow her to be video taped interacting with her parents and who's to say her mind didn't function better than her ability to physically show it. For her parents to be willing to take over the bills and custody of her, there was something more than was reported. I think her life was valuable enough to her parents that she should have been allowed to live. Her attorney saw enough to try and save her life as well.