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 "Signs
of Awareness Seen in Brain-Injured Patients"
Thousands of brain-damaged people who are treated as if
they are almost completely unaware may in fact hear and
register what is going on around them but be unable to respond,
a new brain-imaging study suggests.
The findings, if repeated in follow-up experiments, could
have sweeping implications for how to care best for these
patients. Some experts said the study, which appeared
yesterday in the journal Neurology, could also have consequences
for legal cases in which parties dispute the mental state
of an unresponsive patient. The research showed that the brain-imaging technology,
magnetic resonance imaging, can be a powerful tool to
help doctors and family members determine whether a person
has lost all awareness or is still somewhat mentally engaged,
experts said.Read more... (Note: free subscription to online magazine may be required
to view articles.)
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On the lighter side... "In creating the human brain, evolution has
wildly overshot the mark". ~Arthur Koestler
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