Functional Mri Testing for Patient Consciousness in a Vegetative State
Math 146
Functional MRI Testing for Patient Consciousness in a Vegetative State
A vegetative state is considered to be a coma-like state where a patient appears to be awake, but unconscious/unresponsive. A vegetative state occurs after severe brain injury, and is diagnosed by a highly skilled team of healthcare professionals who specialize in the field. However, is it possible that people with brain damage considered to be in a “vegetative state” are actually conscious? If so, could they have the cognitive capability to decide for themselves whether to continue or discontinue life support? Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed a technology to possibly answer these very questions.
According to “The Willful Modulation of Brain Activity in Disorders of Consciousness” Journal from The New England Journal of Medicine (2010), scientists researched and developed a form of testing called Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Scientists had two main goals for the test; to determine whether patients had the ability to purposefully respond to stimulation, and to harness and nurture any response, by forming a reproducible type of communication.
Scientists conducted a study where 54 patients with consciousness disorders underwent Functional MRI and were asked to accomplish three tasks. Twenty-three of these patients were diagnosed to be in a “vegetative state” and 31 in a “minimally conscious state”. A control group of 16 healthy subjects was first used as a way to test feasibility. All 16 showed 100% test effectiveness. During the study patients were asked to first imagine standing still on a tennis court and to swing an arm to hit the ball back and forth. They were to imagine hitting with an Instructor. For this type of imagery, humans use the motor region of the brain. Then patients were asked to rest for 30 seconds. The next task was to imagine the layout of a familiar city or to imagine the layout of your home and to picture items
Functional MRI Testing for Patient Consciousness in a Vegetative State
A vegetative state is considered to be a coma-like state where a patient appears to be awake, but unconscious/unresponsive. A vegetative state occurs after severe brain injury, and is diagnosed by a highly skilled team of healthcare professionals who specialize in the field. However, is it possible that people with brain damage considered to be in a “vegetative state” are actually conscious? If so, could they have the cognitive capability to decide for themselves whether to continue or discontinue life support? Scientists from the University of Cambridge have developed a technology to possibly answer these very questions.
According to “The Willful Modulation of Brain Activity in Disorders of Consciousness” Journal from The New England Journal of Medicine (2010), scientists researched and developed a form of testing called Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Scientists had two main goals for the test; to determine whether patients had the ability to purposefully respond to stimulation, and to harness and nurture any response, by forming a reproducible type of communication.
Scientists conducted a study where 54 patients with consciousness disorders underwent Functional MRI and were asked to accomplish three tasks. Twenty-three of these patients were diagnosed to be in a “vegetative state” and 31 in a “minimally conscious state”. A control group of 16 healthy subjects was first used as a way to test feasibility. All 16 showed 100% test effectiveness. During the study patients were asked to first imagine standing still on a tennis court and to swing an arm to hit the ball back and forth. They were to imagine hitting with an Instructor. For this type of imagery, humans use the motor region of the brain. Then patients were asked to rest for 30 seconds. The next task was to imagine the layout of a familiar city or to imagine the layout of your home and to picture items