'Vegetative state' not what it once was

Sharon's brain scans show leaps in science of comas 

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent

LONDON | Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:13am EST

(Reuters) - The state-of-the-art brain scans that allowed doctors to look inside the head of former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon show how advances in neuroscience are forcing a rethink of what it means to be in a long-term coma.

Neurologists who performed the tests said they hinted that Sharon, who has been in a coma since suffering a stroke in 2006, may have a degree of consciousness and be able to hear sounds or make out pictures.

"It's encouraging to find these signs because it opens up the possibility of some meaningful communication," said Paul Matthews, a professor of neurology at Imperial College London.

Until recently, he said, it had been assumed that many comatose patients diagnosed as being in a "vegetative state" had no meaningful awareness of their surroundings.

(More here.)