 |
I have stolen the entire article as it appeared in it’s original source, so the link to it is provided above.
Groundbreaking research has found that patients left in a vegetative state for devastating brain damage are able to think and respond to questions.
British and Belgian researchers have been able to reach into the mind of a man who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a road accident in 2003 and communicate.
Their research involved a new brain scanning method called functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging.
The man was asked to give yes and no answers to simple questions such as “is your father’s name Thomas?” with the help of a hi-tech scanner that monitored his brain activity.
For yes answers, he was told to think of playing tennis, a motor activity. For no answers, he was told to think of going from room to room in his home, visualizing everything he would expect to see there.
“We were astonished when we saw the results of the patient’s scan and that he was able to correctly answer the questions that were asked by simply changing his thoughts,” said Adrian Owen, co-author of the study from the Medical Research Council.
“Not only did these scans tell us that the patient was not in a vegetative state but, more importantly, for the first time in five years it provided the patient with a way of communicating his thoughts to the outside world.”
Researchers report say five patients thought to be in a persistent vegetative state showed brain activity indicating awareness, intent and, in at least one case, a wish to communicate.
