Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State"

doi:10.1126/science.1135096

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Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State"

Parashkev Nachev¹^* and Masud Husain²

In a report of a single patient in a persistent vegetative state,Owen et al. (Brevia, 8 September 2006, p. 1402) claimed thatthe presence of task-specific brain activation in response toverbal command implies both covert conscious awareness and acapacity for intention. We argue that neither can be securelyinferred from the evidence presented.

¹ Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Imperial College London, UK.
² Institute of Neurology and Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, UK.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: p.nachev{at}imperial.ac.uk

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TECHNICAL COMMENTS Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State": Daniel L. Greenberg (2 March 2007)
Science 315 (5816), 1221b. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1135284]
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TECHNICAL COMMENTS Response to Comments on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State": Adrian M. Owen, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, Matthew H. Davis, Steven Laureys, Dietsje Jolles, and John D. Pickard (2 March 2007)
Science 315 (5816), 1221c. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1135583]
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BREVIA Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State: Adrian M. Owen, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, Matthew H. Davis, Steven Laureys, and John D. Pickard (8 September 2006)
Science 313 (5792), 1402. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1130197]
| Abstract » | Full Text » | PDF » | Supporting Online Material »