New Signs Observed

On 8 Feb. 05 the New York Times reported "Thousands of brain-damaged people who are treated as if they are completely unaware may in fact hear and register what is going on around them but be unable to respond, a new brain-imaging study suggests.

"The findings, if repeated in follow-up experiments, could have sweeping implications for how to care best for these patients. Some experts said the study, which appeared yesterday in the journal Neurology, could also have consequence for legal cases in which parties dispute the mental state of an unresponsive patients." (fMRI reveals large-scale network activation in minimally conscious patients, Neurology 2005; 64: 514-523.)