Such exciting news: Scientists in Canada and Europe have discovered another effective use for an EEG (electroencephalogram)…to test for whether or not a person, in what doctors call “a persistent vegetative state”, are still “in there.”

The EEG can detect awareness.

Prof. Adrian Owen and Dr. Damian Cruse, from the University of Western Ontario’s Brain and Mind Institute, asked 16 persistently vegetative patients in Europe to imagine moving and squeezing their right-hand and toes. They then measured their brain activity and compared it to 12 healthy patients who were asked to do the same thing. What they found was stunning.

“In our first pilot study using the technology, we’ve shown that 20 per cent of these patients aren’t vegetative at all but are in fact conscious and aware.”

Three of the 16 patients could repeatedly and reliably generate appropriate EEG responses to the commands, despite appearing entirely unresponsive.

“We can conclude that they understood the instructions that we were giving to them and that they were carrying out these mental operations purely by using their brains,” Owen said.

Wouldn’t it be great if the use of an EEG allowed “locked in” patients to engage in two-way communication…by asking simple yes or no questions…and getting responses?

“We can ask them questions like: are you in any pain? Are you happy, sad, are you depressed?” says Owen.

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My Friend
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