|
| What many have said all along |
| Friday, 05 February 2010 15:13 |
|
A new study has discovered that some patients who are completely paralysed, are able to respond to communication and even answer questions. Over 3 years, British and Belgium scientists studied 23 patients diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, using a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) which detects large flows of blood to different regions of the brain. Their research proved that some patients were conscious, but unable to communicate. When asked questions, scientists could detect a change in brain activity in some patients. This proves what many of us have known all along — that even though the brain may not be able to make the body move outwardly, there can still be vital cognitive function going on inwardly. The term ‘brain dead’ is often used in relation to patients that are in the state mentioned above. This is then used as a reason to remove organs for organ donation. If the brain was truly dead, so would the body be dead. In such a situation, the organs would be useless from transplant as they too, would be dead. “Brain dead” is a misnomer.  Scans show brain activations in, above, a healthy person as he answers "yes" or "no" to a question and, below, in someone whom doctors have deemed to be in a vegetative state. |