The question of whether someone in a vegetative state still has conscious awareness is something that has plagues us for a very long time. If we were able to find a reliable way to diagnose whether these patients have awareness or not, it could be life changing. These patients can fall into two different stages: persistent vegetative state, when the patient is in the vegetative state for longer than 4 weeks, or permanent vegetative state, when the condition persists for longer than a year. Once patients reach this permanent stage, there is very little hope for recovery and families are left with a really hard decision: do they continue to keep their loved ones on life support? In the BBC video, The Secret You, Adrian Owen attempts to possibly make the answer to this question a little easier. Since conscious awareness can currently only be tested by making a conscious decision to do something (which patients in a vegetative state cannot do) he's asking the patients to IMAGINE doing something. In the video he asks patients to imagine playing tennis. He then analyzes if and what brain regions are being activated compared to a healthy patient using an fMRI. While I think that there really isn't enough testing to prove that this is a full proof strategy, it's definitely really promising, and a step in the right direction.
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we had a debate the other week in my human biology class on whether or not we would keep a family member on life support if they were in a vegitated state or if we would let them go. i think this is really sensitive topic for alot of people. i have never been put in that situation but i know that if it were me i would want to be let go. i wouldnt want my family to keep my on life support for a few months or even a year in hops that i would come around. to much stress, to much money. just let me go.
This would be a great break-through if the brain imaging worked. In the video did Adrian Owen show the fMRI brain scans when he asked the patient to imagine playing tennis?
I think that just knowing that people in a vegetative state might be conscious is kind of scary. I cannot imagine how horrifying it would be to be able to listen to my family talk about what they are going to do with me. I'm not sure what I would want, but if I was trapped like that and not able to speak it would be very scary.
This is quite a controversial issue. I suppose what Owen is doing surely isn't a step in the wrong direction, but I'm a little unsure about what exactly he is doing. He is telling patients in a vegetative state to imagine playing tennis and see if they can do so? Perhaps he can figure out if they really are imaging themselves playing tennis, but what if the brain unconsciously reacts to the verbal message and Owen mistakes that for the patients imagining they're playing tennis? Obviously, I'm no doctor but that's the immediate thing that came to my mind.
Currently, I am taking "Intro to Music Therapy" and one subject that we just briefly discussed was the effects of music on a patient in a vegetative state. What I found fascinating is that in some cases, people were able to get a neurological reaction in these vegetated patients by playing their favorite music. Other things that were able to stimulate brain activity included hearing their loved one's voice. I agree though, if we continue in that sort of direction, I'm sure we'll be able to stumble upon some sort of huge medical discovery.
What is your definition of consciousness? Does this include the conclusions reached about people in a vegetative state? What more information do we need to make that determination?
I've never been in this particular situation nor has anyone I'm close to but I can only imagine what a hard decision it might be. I really appreciated your analysis of the BBC video and how you handled this incredibly sensitive topic.
I agree with many other people that have posted that being aware of your surroundings in such a state would be scary. I like to think that i would never want to live in such a state but you never know how you will truly feel about the situation until you are in it. If i was aware of my surrounding im sure that i would be very distressed about the conversations going on around me when i cannot voice my opinion, especially if they were about me.
This is a very interesting topic. I have known many people who have family members that are in a vegetative state. The fact that people keep their loved ones on life support really can put a burden on the family obviously because they have to take care of them and pay for life support. The study that Adrian Owen did was interesting, and I am glad that people are trying to do something about this subject. I hope to see a solution to this question to see if people in a vegetative state have conscious awareness.