By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: What Does It Mean to Be Conscious?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Specialties > What Does It Mean to Be Conscious?
SpecialtiesTechnology

What Does It Mean to Be Conscious?

psalber
Last updated: November 11, 2013 9:00 am
psalber
Share
4 Min Read
neurology research
SHARE

A study published on October 31 in the online open source journal NeuroImage: Clinical further blurs the boundaries of what it means to be conscious.

A study published on October 31 in the online open source journal NeuroImage: Clinical further blurs the boundaries of what it means to be conscious. Although the title, Dissociable endogenous and exogenous attention in disorders of consciousness, and the research methodology are almost indecipherable to those of us not inside the beltway of chronic Disorders of Consciousness (DoC) research, the University of Cambridge translates for us on their website.

neurology research

 

More Read

rare disease communities
Reaching Rare Disease Communities
To Heal a Heart, Train Harder
September 26-28 AdvaMed 2011
3 Nutritious Foods To Eat During Your Second Trimester Of Pregnancy
Quick Blood Test to Spot SCID In Infants

Basically the researchers, led by Dr. Srivas Chennu at the University of Cambridge, were trying to see if patients diagnosed as either in a vegetative state (VS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) could pay attention to (count) certain words, called the attended words, when they were embedded in a string of other randomly presented words, called the distracting words.  Normal brain wave responses were established by performing the word testing on 8 healthy volunteers.  The same testing was then applied to 21 brain damaged individuals, 9 with a clinical diagnosis of vegetative state and 12 with a diagnosis of minimally conscious state.  Most of the patients did not respond to the presentation of words as did normal volunteers.  But one did.

The patient, described at Patient P1, suffered a traumatic brain injury 4 months prior to testing.  He was diagnosed as “behaviorally vegetative,” based on a Coma Recovery Score-Revised (CRS-R) of 7 (8 or greater = MCS).  In addition to being able to consciously attend to the key words, this patient could also follow simple commands to imagine playing tennis.

Dr. Chennu was quoted as saying, “We are progressively building up a fuller picture of the sensory, perceptual and cognitive abilities in patients” with vegetative and minimally conscious states.  Yes, this is true.  But what does it mean if someone previously diagnosed as vegetative can now be shown to perform this sort of task?  Dr. Chennu hopes that this information will spur the development of “future technology to help patients in a vegetative state communicate with the outside world.”

I think this is fascinating research and it sheds new insights into how the brain functions, but it also raises a number of important questions.  For example, if I can attend to words, does it change my prognosis?  Patient P1 was found to have minimal cortical atrophy.  Perhaps he is just slow to transition from a vegetative to a MCS.  If attending to words is associated with a better prognosis, should that make me a candidate for intensive and expensive rehabilitation?  If so, who should pay for this?  If I have an advanced directive that says I don’t want to continue to live in a persistent vegetative state, will this level of awareness mean I am not really vegetative.  As more and more resources are poured into care for folks with severe brain damage, does it come at a societal cost?  What trade offs are we making, what services are we forgoing, as we spend money developing tools to improve communication in vegetative states?

Of course no one has the answer to these questions and I suspect as researchers like those at Cambridge continue to learn more about the functioning of the severely injured brain, the more difficult it will be to clearly say what is really means to be “aware.”  Stay tuned.

(image courtesy University of Cambridge)

TAGGED:neurologyresearch
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

1 in 7 Alzheimer’s Cases Could Be Prevented with Exercise

April 18, 2013

Microsoft Kinect Effect–Sensors Everywhere Including the Hospital OR- Video

November 1, 2011
Specialties

Malaria: A Complete Guide

January 3, 2020
pain management tips
OrthopaedicsSpecialties

Alternatives to Pain Management

December 23, 2022
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?