Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Sartre, J.-P. Existentialism and Human Emotions (Carol, New York, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Crick, F. & Koch, C. Nature Neurosci. 6, 119–126 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Block, N. Trends Cogn. Sci. 9, 46–52 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Schiff, N. D. et al. Nature 448, 600–603 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Levy, D. E. et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 253, 1420–1426 (1985).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Jones, E. G. Trends Neurosci. 24, 595–601 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Shirvalkar, P., Seth, M., Schiff, N. D. & Herrera, D. G. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 17007–17012 (2006).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of Perception (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1962).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Clark, A. Being There: Putting Brain, Body, and World Together Again (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1997).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Cisek, P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B published online 11 Apr 2007 doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2054 (2007).

  11. Gold, J. I. & Shadlen, M. N. Annu. Rev. Neurosci. 30, 535–574 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Dosenbach, N. U. F. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 104, 11073–11078 (2007).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Fox, M. D. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 9673–9678 (2005).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Kinney, H. C. & Samuels, M. A. J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 53, 548–558 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Laureys, S., Owen, A. M. & Schiff, N. D. Lancet Neurol. 3, 537–546 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Bernat, J. L. Neurology 58, 337–338 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

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

Authors
  1. Michael N. Shadlen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roozbeh Kiani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

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

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/448539a

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing