Brain activity in unconscious patients offers new views of awareness
Using EEG and fMRI, researchers try to learn who is conscious but unable to respond
LOCKED IN Patients in the left two images are outwardly in a vegetative state. But the neural connections, measured by electrical activity, are much more active in the middle patient, whose brain network more closely resembles a healthy volunteer’s (right). All three were asked to imagine themselves playing tennis.
S. Chennu/Univ. Of Cambridge
The average brain weighs about 1.3