Electrodes Bring Man Back From Vegetation
After six years of being in a vegetative state, a man is brought back to life by an experimental treatment called deep brain stimulation. The treatment uses two electrodes that send impulses to the portion of the brain that regulates consciousness.
He is the first minimally conscious person to be successfully treated. As a victim of a brutal assault, his skull was completely crushed and he has since been kept alive by a feeding tube. He is now able to drink from a cup, watch a movie and has recalled simple phrases such as, “I love you Mommy and Pop.”
The treatment has been attempted in the past on Parkinson’s disease. This time the stimulation was placed in different areas of the brain to drive specific skills like speech. Even though he is showing great promise, he is still described by doctors as having problems retaining new information and remembering day to day events.
Research has led to increasing the exposure to the therapy by up to 12 hours per day. One Japanese scientist, Isao Morita, has designed an implant that sets electrodes into the spinal column for continuous pulses that reach the brain. This type of research brings wonder and hope to those with loved ones who are minimally conscious and in comas.
I can’t help but think of another doctor who more famously used electricity to animate lifeless bodies. Victor Frankenstein’s wish to cheat mortality was considered immoral in its day. The difference is that science throughout the years has updated our views on death. We brought people back from legal death starting in the 19th century with a defibrillator. As far as I’m concerned this technology just goes one step further.
[Forbes]
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Herb Sage said
am August 3 2007 @ 3:25 pm
It’s amazing what science can do these days! Just think, years from now people in comas will be up and about. Maybe even fully recovered.
Diana said
am August 3 2007 @ 7:27 pm
I think that bringing someone back from a coma just so they can live is selfish. These people are awake but they have major disabilities, it’s wrong.
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 3 2007 @ 10:35 pm
@Herb, I agree. In fact, nanotechnology might one day offer an even more exciting prospect into the future revival of patients like these.
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 3 2007 @ 10:38 pm
@Diana, I completely disagree with you. The desire to help people like this is rooted in research and science. Although they may have major disabilities now, who knows what is in store for them in the future. And why is it our place to say what these people might have wanted in their lives? I can understand if someone signed a “do not resuscitate’ clause in their will, but this is not the case in this case.
Stephan Smith said
am August 4 2007 @ 12:19 am
The lines between life and death has just been bridged by science.
I could never become a surgeon, I would pass out just seeing an unconscious person. (Big softy over here!)
robotchampion said
am August 4 2007 @ 2:50 pm
Jerad nice post I think this is a great advancement. I’m still young but I know I will need some robotic help when I get older. Did you happen to read the Wired article describing a man who went through this surgery to combat Parkinsons?
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 4 2007 @ 9:54 pm
@Stephan, I’m squeemish when it comes to blood myself. It really cut my chances of being a doctor, quick.
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 4 2007 @ 9:57 pm
@robotchampion, nice article. I’m an avid reader of Wired. Have you ever checked out Seed Magazine? It’s by far my new favorite magazine, centered around science culture.
Connie T. said
am August 7 2007 @ 2:35 pm
Wow, the implications of this development are pretty mindblowing, not only in terms of scientific/medical progress and giving people back their concious lives, but also in ethical and moral concepts. If this treatment proves to be a success, it could spell the end of conflicts over euthanasia on comatose patients (or complicate them?!?). Either way, I think its a great development.
Jerad Kaliher said
am August 10 2007 @ 8:42 am
@Connie, it really brings a new level of weird to the whole euthanasia argument. If people have a clear “do not resuscitate” in their wills and families bring them back to consciousness with limited motor skills – well that’s just a little messy.
brain-neuroscience research team said
am October 4 2007 @ 10:02 pm
deep brain stimulation is known for its good effects on movement disorders, and now, as you said, a step forward. How is this possible, it is unclear till now, although many studies are done to find the mechanism. Until than, this events are based on the skills of the doctors and because of luck (but luck for who?…for the doctors, for the science, for the family or for the patient???). A clear understanding of the process will help to avoid situation like “consciousness with limited motor skills”.
Jerad Kaliher said
am October 5 2007 @ 9:48 pm
@brain-neuroscience research team, yes this procedure is so new that success is still hinged on a statistical chance. Yet with research like this we may possibly find a cure for patients who have very little to no consciousness. I agree that the methods as of now are questionable in terms of ethics and I just hope that these procedures are being done on patients who would have expressly instructed to be brought back under any means necessary.