Brain Active in Vegetative State

A report published in Science surprised the scientific community and is bound to resurrect the discussions regarding persistent vegetative state. It appears that researchers were able to detect significant brain activity in a woman who was deemed to exist in such a state. Persistent vegetative state occurs in those with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to the point in which the person is no longer reactive to the external world. Unlike coma, patients in a vegatative state can have their eyes open, and may sleep and wake up, but they are unresposive to the outside world. Terry Schiavo, a young woman from Florida existed in a vegatative state for over a decade prior to having her feeding tube removed.In the present report researchers measured the brain responses elicited when a young woman who was presumed to be in a vegatative state was spoken to in simple sentences. The woman had been unresponsive since emerging from a coma after a traffic accident and met all the criteria for a persistent vegetative state. Investigators used functional MRI to evaluate brain activity. The results of her scan were compared with those of others. The results showed than when she was presented with spoken sentences, she had increased activity in speech comprehension centers in the brain. When asked to imagine playing tennis or walking throughout her house, the respective areas of the woman's brain that were responsible for visuospatial and motor function were activated. This report is consistent with the results of recent functional neuroimaging studies that have suggested that 'islands' of preserved brain function may exist in a small percentage of patients who have been diagnosed as vegetative.