Vegetative brain scanner available through the exchange of "voice"

British and Belgian researchers found that some vegetables appears to have lost consciousness, but in fact they can understand, or even answer simple questions, but the "voice" locked body, not Gaiden. Through the brain scanner, they can exchange with the outside world.

Research findings, published in the United States at 3, "New England Journal of Medicine" magazine website.

Exchange "voice"

The researchers first examined a 29-year-old male vegetative state. The man, in 2003 a car accident, a coma for two years after diagnosis of "persistent vegetative state" (PVS), that is the definition of the international medical community in persistent vegetative states.

Researchers told the men, they will ask questions, want men with "yes" or "no" answer. To facilitate the distinction between the answer, he had to replace the vision of two different scenarios: For the "yes", which envisions himself on the tennis court to play tennis, which will stimulate the brain at the top of cell activity; for "No", then the idea at home and walk, which will cause base of the brain cell activity.

Next, the man heard about their six issues, including the father's name and whether the sisters, and other. The researchers also used functional magnetic resonance at the side of the imager (MRI) to monitor brain activity in men. For each question, imaging devices are within 5 minutes to "capture" the man answers. A total of five men, gives the correct answer.

Since then, researchers again 22 "persistent vegetative state" patients with a similar test, asking them to envisage the above-mentioned two kinds of scenarios. Imager scan showed that four patients successfully completed "task."

Hope

The result surprised the researchers, in particular the performance of 29-year-old man. After all, he has been diagnosed as vegetative state about 5 years.

The Associated Press quoted study authors, the British Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences, Dr. Adrian Owen, saying: "When you see the patient (29-year-old men) of the scan results, we were shocked. He Conversion Thought alone accurately answer the questions ... ... We believe he is fully awake consciousness, (test) that he must understand not only the instructions, understand the implications, but also give answer. "