Comment on "Detecting awareness in the vegetative state".
Owen et al. (Brevia, 8 September 2006, p. 1402) claimed that a patient's brain activity revealed that she was consciously responding to commands despite being in a vegetative state. However, several alternative explanations were not eliminated. Specifically, the activity could reflect unconscious reactions to the last word in the command, not conscious decisions to respond. A refined experimental design could clarify these issues.
Greenberg
Daniel L
DL
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. dlgreenberg@mednet.ucla.edu
D001364:Awareness; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003243:Consciousness; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*