Detecting covert consciousness in the vegetative state | Mo Costandi | Neurophilosophy blog | Science | guardian.co.uk: A recent study which shows that patients in the minimally conscious state may be capable of dreaming, and that studying the brain wave patterns associated with sleep could be helpful in distinguishing minimally conscious patients from those in the vegetative state.
Accurate diagnosis of these mysterious conditions can help relatives make difficult decisions, because minimally conscious patients are more likely than vegetative ones to show some degree of recovery. Diagnosis can be difficult, however, and up to 40% of patients are diagnosed wrongly. It had been thought that vegetative patients were completely unaware of their surroundings, but this view began to change about five years ago, following the publication of a landmark 2006 study led by Adrian Owen.
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment