Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology, doctors in the U.K. and Belgium are able to read the brain signals of patients in persistent vegetative states (PVS), confirming that these patients still have awareness.
PVS patients show no awareness of self or environment or body control, but have wake and sleep cycles. It was believed that they had no understanding of language, but doctors found that when they asked PVS patients to activate different areas of their brain to indicate yes and no responses, patients were consistently able to do so and answer simple biographical questions correctly.
This finding shows that PVS patients are in fact aware even though they are not able communicate through the usual means.
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