In a vegetative state, a person is awake but doesn't show any physical sign of consciousness. It has long been thought that patients in a vegetative state were not conscious at all. However, scientists discovered with the use of brain scans that some patients showed signs of consciousness deep inside their brain

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It is a scenario from a nightmare. Because of brain trauma, you are trapped in a motionless body; communicating is impossible. Your consciousness is not visible to the outside world as family members and doctors bend over you, wondering if you'll ever wake up.

In a vegetative state, a person is awake but doesn't show any physical sign of consciousness. It has long been thought that patients in a vegetative state were not conscious at all. However, scientists discovered with the use of newly developed brain scans that some patients showed signs of consciousness deep inside their brain. More recently, a Canadian team of scientists developed a brain scan that even allows for some form of communication with a few of these patients.

It is especially crucial for patients in a vegetative state that this type of communication can take place. It could be an essential factor in deciding whether such a patient is kept artificially alive or not. As it currently stands, the family of the patients has to decide on this matter. But with this new type of scan, doctors can communicate with the patients themselves in approximately one in five cases.

How it works

So how does it work? Patients in a vegetative state get instructions which they can follow in their mind. One such instruction could be, for example, to imagine a game of tennis. The newly developed scan can subsequently detect this brain activity. The doctor can then asks a yes / no question, instructing the patient to think about tennis when answering with yes and something else for answering with no. Trough this method communication can still take place.

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Further developments are taking place on many different fronts concerning patients that are no longer able to communicate physically. In addition to patients in a vegetative state, one can also think of patients with paralysis, for example. Better scans can show more precisely how speech works in our brain, and new techniques will be able to more adequately convert brain activity into actual communication.

One of the pioneers of this field is neuroscientist Prof. Dr. Nick Ramsey from the University Medical Center Utrecht. His team developed a technique that links the brains of paralyzed ALS patients to a speech computer, allowing them to communicate again. Ramsey mentioned in an interview that he expects the next generation (in 20 to 30 years) will have the option to get an implant that can solve a variety of additional problems like, for example, not being able to walk because of a stroke.

As of right now, the efforts of Dr. Nick Ramsey and others are still at their infancy, it will take quite some time to fully develop these types of technologies on top of that they will need the support of the medical community to attract further investments.

Sources and further reading: Utrecht University new release - Interview with Prof. Dr. Nick Ramsey - Shocking evidence shows people in vegetative states may be conscious - Brain scans used to read minds of intensive care patients