© 2004 American Medical Association
Auditory clicks activated similar brain areas in 18 healthy controls (above left), 5 minimally conscious patients (middle), and 15 persistently vegetative patients (right), as tracked by positron emission tomography. The extent of activation in patients' brains, however, was sharply reduced. (From M. Boly et al.,
Political, ethical, and family conflicts catapulted Terri Schiavo's case to international prominence earlier this year. But a month after the Florida woman's death, a parallel case that generated fewer headlines actually provided greater scientific drama: Donald Herbert, a former firefighter from Buffalo, NY, suddenly asked to talk to his wife after spending a decade in what his doctor reportedly described as a near-vegetative condition.
Schiavo, whose persistent vegetative state (PVS) lasted 15 years, never regained consciousness, and her autopsy suggested why: After anoxia, her brain had atrophied to about half its normal weight. The reason why ...
