"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
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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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