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Tuesday 5 February 2013

How active is the brain in a coma?

S.O.T.TA new type of brain scan is giving neurologists insight into what is happening in the brains of patients who appear to be in comas. 

When doctors recently tested former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon brain with a functional MRI, they found "robust" brain activity when he was shown pictures of his family and heard his son's voice. A stroke and brain hemorrhage left Sharon in a coma seven years ago. 

While the findings don't change the prognosis of many patients, doctors are excited because the technology could foster a primitive form of communication with patients who are minimally conscious. It could also help prevent and correct misdiagnosis of patients who appear to be in comas, but are actually in a "locked-in" state...Read More>>>...