"Hidden consciousness" may be present in 25% of unresponsive patients
by Michael Irving
by Michael Irving
Quote:...Over the past few decades scientists have detected signs of “hidden consciousness” in some unresponsive patients. In tests, instructions like “imagine opening and closing your hand” were given to patients while their brain activity was being monitored through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or electroencephalography (EEG). And sure enough, in some cases these measurements indicate intelligent reactions are occurring in the brain, even without an obvious physical sign, like the patient actually opening and closing their hand. This indicates that for some patients the issue isn’t with cognition but their motor skills, leading to a condition called cognitive motor dissociation.
“Some patients with severe brain injury do not appear to be processing their external world,” said Yelena Bodien, lead author of the new study. “However, when they are assessed with advanced techniques such as task-based fMRI and EEG, we can detect brain activity that suggests otherwise. These results bring up critical ethical, clinical, and scientific questions – such as how can we harness that unseen cognitive capacity to establish a system of communication and promote further recovery?”
The new study examined 241 participants from six different facilities across the US, UK and Europe, over the past 15 years...
'Historically, we may regard materialism as a system of dogma set up to combat orthodox dogma...Accordingly we find that, as ancient orthodoxies disintegrate, materialism more and more gives way to scepticism.'
- Bertrand Russell
- Bertrand Russell