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Brain Electrodes Help Injured Man To Speak Again
An anonymous reader writes "A man beaten and left for dead has recovered the power of speech thanks to the use of electrodes to stimulate brain activity. 'Experts called the results encouraging but cautioned that the experimental treatment must be tried in more patients before its value can be assessed. The researchers are already proceeding with a larger study. Before the electrodes were implanted, the man was in what doctors call a "minimally conscious state." That means he showed only occasional awareness of himself and his environment. In a coma or vegetative state, by contrast, patients show no outward signs of awareness.'"
No.
In Schiavo's case, the autopsy was conclusive. Her brain was horribly atrophied; there was little left beyond the brain stem, which only provides the bare minimum life support functions. Parts of her cerebrum had literally turned to mush. No medical treatment, up to and including science fiction ideas like tissue regeneration, could have properly revived her - there was nothing left of her prior self, in terms of the important stuff like memory, or identity.
At best, some techno-magical resurrection, should such a thing be possible one day, could have left her with an blank infant's mind in an already old body, and bluntly, that sounds every bit like a fate worse than death to me.
Really, the only reason why everyone remembers Terri (and not the many other vegetables whose relatives face the difficult choice of either holding out hope indefinitely or pulling the plug) is that her case got political. Medically, she was not out of the ordinary, and it was pretty clear long before the case ever made it to the public eye that she wasn't coming back. People who've lost most of their brain aren't expected to recover, and since their prognosis worsens over time (due to atrophy), there is little chance of medical science yielding some miracle cure that could help them.
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
In most cases, pain is there for a reason. If you're back hurts, you probably did something wrong with your body- lifted something the wrong way, twisted the wrong way, etc. Pain is your bodies way of saying "don't do that". So yes, most of the time the correct answer is to change your life style- stop doing things that harm your body. Its ironic that you complain about doctors using band-aid treatments, then think that a technique to mask the pain from your brain while continuing to deteriorate your body is a *good* idea. In reality its about the worst thing you could do- you'll continue to fuck up your back, without nay feedback of how badly you're doing so. The end result will be you in a wheelchair.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
You're letting your religious beliefs and emotional need to believe something, whether it's true or not, get in the way of the facts. I remember a discussion once about sf spaceships and how scientists have said that it is not possible to go faster than light speed and someone said, "Yeah, but they kept saying it wasn't possible to go faster than sound." The two statements are entirely unrelated. There wasn't "proof" about faster than sound travel. As far was what science can and cannot do, her memories, her personality, everything that made her who she was was lost. Without that, she could never be who she was. That is not an issue of "until recently they thought..." reasoning.
You might want to read up on logic and reasoning and how they are used in debate and discussion because you are making arguments without any basis other than your own beliefs. You are basing your comments on what you want and not on facts or reason.
Actually, that is not the case. If you'll read the article, you'll see that the patient could in fact communicate, albeit in a limited way, before the treatment. He was crippled, but his mind was still there.
If you want an analogy, think of a human being as a computer. This guy, in TFA, had a broken sound card - they fixed it. Terri Schiavo had a broken hard drive - one that wasn't just damaged, but was in fact melted. Assuming the damage could have been repaired, what of the data lost? It's not like we had a backup copy of her mind, her memories, or the other aspects of her identity.
There are bound to be cases where we can argue till the cows come home how much of the mind is left. Hers wasn't one of them. Where the forebrain should have been, there was cerebrospinal fluid. There was nothing left. Her case does not compare with the case in TFA.
Now, one day we may be able to repair that kind of damage. But unless we also develop a method for backing up our minds, the way we back up data on a computer, then such a miracle treatment will not restore the patient to who they were.
Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
And until recently, that's what "medicine" and "science" thought was the case with the young man in the story.
But now he's up and talking.
Think about it.
Should we then freeze dry everyone that dies. you know just in case?
I've had 2 friend that have been in a coma. 1 was thought to have been brain dead and fortunately the doctors were wrong and her mother screaming bloody murder when they pulled her off the respirator (miscommunication due to a language barrier) was the right choice. The choice is there for the families. It's easier in some situation then others. But your statement is bordering on the ridiculous. Think about it? We have to work with the information we have now. Perhaps one day they will have a cure for 47 deep stab wounds. Perhaps not. Perhaps he's a vegetable perhaps not. But we can't work with what might be possible in the future.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
What I find really interesting in such stories is that it helps fight the idea that the brain is a monolithic black box that is either on or off. This story is already a few days old and I have found sources when it says that the guy was brought back from coma thanks to electrodes. The fact is, that he never were in coma, he had a minimal set of brain function activated, occasionally he would say "yes" or "no" to simple questions but was not autonomous at all, his conscious "drive" completely gone. Now an electrodes pulses in the zone of the brain associated to consciousness but he still is not the same person as he was. Some memories are back, he can talk again, move again (I suppose in a wheelchair, I read somewhere he won't be able to walk again before several years) and has some desires again.
But having reading headlines about this story shows how uncomfortable people are with the notion that some part of your brain can be switched off without living you dead, just... different.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
If someone is brain dead and nothing, then it doesnt matter, they are zippo , but ultimately, a person by marriage
is at most 25% as important as genetic parents.
Is it possible to form a corporation between your self and parents to give them more rights than your partner?
Well said. I was appalled when I heard that her ex had the power to end her life. It's tragic.
"Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber" -- Plato
Well, in the "sore back" example, often the initial problem with the patient is that there is not enough muscle mass around the spine to cope with daily living. The solution to that IS NOT less daily living. The solution is "muscle up your back a bit, moron". Which involves exercise and some pain.
IN ADDITION, there are very well documented scientifically done papers that strongly indicated that "my back hurts" is best cured by regular activity with pain management. Lying in bed prolongs the problem, doing extra, prolongs the problem. Doing normal stuff, cuts the recovery by something like 50%.
In other words, the exact opposite of what you are advocating.