Consciousness May be Possible During a Coma (for some)

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMoa0905370

Background The differential diagnosis of disorders of consciousness is challenging. The rate of misdiagnosis is approximately 40%, and new methods are required to complement bedside testing, particularly if the patient's capacity to show behavioral signs of awareness is diminished.

Methods At two major referral centers in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Liege, Belgium, we performed a study involving 54 patients with disorders of consciousness. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess each patient's ability to generate willful, neuroanatomically specific, blood-oxygenation-level–dependent responses during two established mental-imagery tasks. A technique was then developed to determine whether such tasks could be used to communicate yes-or-no answers to simple questions.

Results Of the 54 patients enrolled in the study, 5 were able to willfully modulate their brain activity. In three of these patients, additional bedside testing revealed some sign of awareness, but in the other two patients, no voluntary behavior could be detected by means of clinical assessment. One patient was able to use our technique to answer yes or no to questions during functional MRI; however, it remained impossible to establish any form of communication at the bedside.

Conclusions These results show that a small proportion of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state have brain activation reflecting some awareness and cognition. Careful clinical examination will result in reclassification of the state of consciousness in some of these patients. This technique may be useful in establishing basic communication with patients who appear to be unresponsive.

This test included measurement for responses to imagery and communication tasks. 5 out of the 54 test subjects showed some sort of awareness with one of them giving a definitive "yes" and "no."

I hope we can get to the point of giving some sort of life back to comatose patients, even if that only happens for 1 out of 54 patients.

Also consider (I didn't read the entire journal entry) that brain function reduces on a time duration function of "un-use." Basically, the longer in the comatose state, the crappier the brain gets. I'd be interested to see if people recently entering comas, exhibit better communication or consciousness markers.

yep I've heard some comatose people actually remember hearing parts of conversations near their beds =)

So farting on a comatose for a laugh is now out of the question?

Originally posted by Robtard
So farting on a comatose for a laugh is now out of the question?

You have a 1 in 54 chance of farting on someone with measurable consciousness.

You'd definitely lose the civil suit if he or she was aware and unable to waft.

interesting article, we are actually discussing it in a seminar I'm taking

I'll do a serious post, but I'm going to need some time on it, as this is some cutting edge stuff mixed with some original (partially tested) ideas of mine.

give me a PM in a couple days if I haven't mr ddm, if you don't mind.

A quick summary: hasn't ruled out the possibility of an incredibly robust bottom-up system for responses, which is different than conscious awareness.

Originally posted by overlord

Originally posted by lord xyz
woah, where'd you come from?

Probably his mother's vagina.

Originally posted by inimalist
interesting article, we are actually discussing it in a seminar I'm taking

I'll do a serious post, but I'm going to need some time on it, as this is some cutting edge stuff mixed with some original (partially tested) ideas of mine.

give me a PM in a couple days if I haven't mr ddm, if you don't mind.

A quick summary: hasn't ruled out the possibility of an incredibly robust bottom-up system for responses, which is different than conscious awareness.

I certainly will.

And, I look forward to your take on this.

Forget the coma. I'm still wondering if consciousness is possible for a lot of people walking around, driving, doing their usual business.