Study Finds Evidence Of Awareness In Non-Responsive Patients

For years, many of us have argued that some people in a non-responsive state might be aware and conscious. Now come some promising findings that report just that. Perhaps if the execution of Terri Schiavo had been commuted we might have at least been able to establish whether she was aware or not. Of course, now we'll never know.

EEGs give voice to brain-injured patients, researchers find

The patients are alive, but unaware. Their brains, damaged by injury, have seemingly shut down. They are mute and immobile and appear to have no knowledge of the world around them.

But scientists are now finding that some patients in a vegetative state are conscious — and can actually communicate. more