When patients have been in a serious accident or have suffered from a medical condition that places them in a vegetative state, there have often been questions raised as to whether they can hear or are aware of what’s going on in their hospital room. Often, as a form of comfort as well as therapy, doctors and other medical practitioners involved in the patients case encourage family members to speak with the patient, but do they hear what is being said or not?
The New England Journal of Medicine describes a medical study in which out of 54 unconscious patients, one man was able to respond yes and no to questions that were addressed to him. The man was officially pronounced to be in a clinical vegetative state five years earlier but his yes and no responses to questions could be observed through brain scans that were conducted with MRI (Medical Resonance Imaging).
Yes and No responses trigger nerves in different parts of the brain to fire. Hence when the patient was asked if his father’s name was Thomas, his brain scan reflected his response as No whereas when asked if his father’s name was Alexander, the scan correctly showed his response as yes.
This is an interesting study that will no doubt raise some questions as to the ethical treatment of vegetative patients as well about the human mind what is consciousness.
Via: Gizmodo, Slippery Brick
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