Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State"

doi:10.1126/science.1135284

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Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State"

Daniel L. Greenberg

Owen et al. (Brevia, 8 September 2006, p. 1402) claimed thata patient's brain activity revealed that she was consciouslyresponding to commands despite being in a vegetative state.However, several alternative explanations were not eliminated.Specifically, the activity could reflect unconscious reactionsto the last word in the command, not conscious decisions torespond. A refined experimental design could clarify these issues.

Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.

E-mail: dlgreenberg{at}mednet.ucla.edu

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TECHNICAL COMMENTS Comment on "Detecting Awareness in the Vegetative State": Parashkev Nachev and Masud Husain (2 March 2007)
Science 315 (5816), 1221a. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1135096]
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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 »