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Neurology

An awakening

Nature volume 448, pages 539–540 (2007)Cite this article

Neuroscientists and engineers are developing ways to help patients overcome paralysis and stroke. But what about mental function itself? Can medical intervention restore consciousness?

Jean-Paul Sartre wrote1: “In one sense choice is possible, but what is not possible is not to choose.” To the neurologist, however, gaining consciousness is a decision of the unconscious brain to make choices. Philosophers and scientists may argue about the definition of consciousness2,3, but neurologists have little trouble identifying its absence. Now, physicians are beginning to understand how it can be restored in some patients with severe brain damage. A case report by Schiff et al. (page 600 of this issue4) raises hope in this area, and sheds light on the neurobiological underpinnings of consciousness. Schiff and his colleagues treated a patient who had been in a 'minimally conscious state' (Box 1) for several years after a serious brain injury.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Physiology & Biophysics, Michael N. Shadlen and Roozbeh Kiani are in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Neurology, University of Washington Medical School, Box 357290, Seattle, Washington 98195-7290, USA.,

    Michael N. Shadlen & Roozbeh Kiani

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  1. Michael N. Shadlen
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  2. Roozbeh Kiani
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Shadlen, M., Kiani, R. An awakening. Nature 448, 539–540 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/448539a

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