Communicating with Patients in Persistent Vegetative States

Can brain scanners enable us to open a new channel of communication with patients apparently in persistent vegetative states? Brain researcher Adrian Owen, from the Cambridge MRC...
07 February 2010
Presented by Chris Smith

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Researchers use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to reveal brain activity during emotional situations. Image credit: Inge Volman et al.

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Can brain scanners enable us to open a new channel of communication with patients apparently in persistent vegetative states? Brain researcher Adrian Owen, from the Cambridge MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, explains how an experiment with fMRI revealed that a head injured, vegetative state patient could communicate: by changing his thoughts...

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