What are the criteria to consider a
person conscious? Is it to understand
and possess the ability to make speech? Or to have one’s eyes open? These questions
become relevant when determining if a person is in a coma or vegetative state.
Daniel Bor, author of The Ravenous Brain,
states that “if a patient is entirely unconscious with eyes persistently
closed, then he is in a coma. If he has some form of sleep-wake cycle, and
sometimes opens his eyes, but shows no sign of awareness then he is a
vegetative state.” This differentiation
was the determining factor in the Terri Schavio case of 2005. This well-known
controversial situation gained national review. The family fought to keep their
daughter on life support proclaiming that they saw a spark of life in her.
While the husband requested numerous of times to remove life support and allow
Terri to die. Many people began to choose sides of the debate if Terri Schavio,
Permanent vegetative state patient, should have her feeding tubes removed and
pass away. Many argued that Terri was still aware of pain and laughter and
claimed her facial expressions would change with the conversations that
occurred around her. On the other hand, people stated that she had lost her person
hood and her cognitive ability; she was not a person anymore but just a working
mass of cells.
The
idea that permanent vegetative state patients were unaware of their
surroundings was the prevailing thought until there was a new finding in Canada.
Professor Adrian Owen from the Brain and
Mind Institute of Western Ontario found that not all PVS patients were unaware.
Using the fMRIs and PET scans, research showed that Scott Routley, who was in
PVS for 12 years, showed that he still possessed cognitive ability. He was told
to think of walking through his house to answer a question with yes and to
answer a question no he was told think that he was playing tennis. By looking
at the different parts of the brain that were activated as he thought about
these different processes, he was able to answer that he was not in pain and
many other questions. “Scott has been able to show he has a conscious, thinking
mind. We have scanned him several times and his pattern of brain activity shows
he is clearly choosing to answer our questions. We believe he knows who and
where he is,”stated Professor Adrian Owen. Many are hoping that this is a sign
for a brighter future, and a new way to communicate to those that are unable
to.
Bor, Daniel. Ravenous Brain. New York: a member of the
Perseus books group , 2012. Print.
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