Brain scans allow man in coma to communicate with scientists
Coma patients could be aware of their surroundings and able communicate using their thoughts
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 04, Feb 2010 03:27
By Alex Plough
Coma patients could be aware of their surroundings and able communicate using their thoughts, according to a new study that says up to 40 per cent of those in a 'vegetative state' may have been misdiagnosed.
Scientists based at Cambridge University's cognition and brain Sciences unit, part of the Medical Research Council, and colleagues from the University of Liege, in Belgium, studied the brain activity of 54 patients in a vegetative state using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology.
They concluded that five patients showed signs of awareness after scans revealed they were responding to verbal instructions designed to stimulate different parts of the brain.
They were first told to imagine playing tennis, as an example of a motor activity, then told to visualise walking from room to room in their houses, creating activity in the part of the brain governing spatial awareness.
One patient, a 29 year old man who had suffered a severe brain injury in a road traffic accident, was able to apply this imagery technique to answer simple yes-or-no questions.
Dr Adrian Owen, co-author of the research from the Medical Research Council, said: "We were astonished when we saw the results. Not only did these scans tell us that the patient was not in a vegetative state but, more importantly, for the first time in five years, it provided the patient with a way of communicating his thoughts to the outside world."
However, the results raise doubts about the diagnosis of such "disorders of consciousness", as previous tests on the patient had all shown that he was in a vegetative state. The study warns in its introduction that "the rate of misdiagnosis is approximately 40 per cent".
Dr Martin Monti, co-author from the Medical Research Council, added: "The fact that this patient was able to communicate with scientists using his brain activity suggests that this technique could be used to address important clinical questions. For example, patients who are aware, but cannot move or speak, could be asked if they are feeling any pain, allowing doctors to decide when painkillers should be administered."