Light Eye
01-20-2007, 12:49 PM
Dear Friends,
Make sure you check out the links.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580394,00.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
The Mystery of Consciousness
Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 By STEVEN PINKER
The young women had survived the car crash, after a fashion. In the five
months since parts of her brain had been crushed, she could open her eyes but
didn't respond to sights, sounds or jabs. In the jargon of neurology, she was
judged to be in a persistent vegetative state. In crueler everyday language, she
was a vegetable.
So picture the astonishment of British and Belgian scientists as they scanned
her brain using a kind of MRI that detects blood flow to active parts of the
brain. When they recited sentences, the parts involved in language lit up. When
they asked her to imagine visiting the rooms of her house, the parts involved in
navigating space and recognizing places ramped up. And when they asked her to
imagine playing tennis, the regions that trigger motion joined in. Indeed, her
scans were barely different from those of healthy volunteers. The woman, it
appears, had glimmerings of consciousness.
Try to comprehend what it is like to be that woman. Do you appreciate the
words and caresses of your distraught family while racked with frustration at
your inability to reassure them that they are getting through? Or do you drift
in a haze, springing to life with a concrete thought when a voice prods you,
only to slip back into blankness? If we could experience this existence, would
we prefer it to death? And if these questions have answers, would they change
our policies toward unresponsive patients--making the Terri Schiavo case look
like child's play?
---------------------------------
Alt i ÃÂà ƒÂ‚ƒÃƒÂ‚à ƒÂ‚©n. FÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚ƒÃƒÂ‚àƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚Â¥ Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og notisblokk.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Make sure you check out the links.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1580394,00.html
Be Well, Be Love.
David
The Mystery of Consciousness
Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 By STEVEN PINKER
The young women had survived the car crash, after a fashion. In the five
months since parts of her brain had been crushed, she could open her eyes but
didn't respond to sights, sounds or jabs. In the jargon of neurology, she was
judged to be in a persistent vegetative state. In crueler everyday language, she
was a vegetable.
So picture the astonishment of British and Belgian scientists as they scanned
her brain using a kind of MRI that detects blood flow to active parts of the
brain. When they recited sentences, the parts involved in language lit up. When
they asked her to imagine visiting the rooms of her house, the parts involved in
navigating space and recognizing places ramped up. And when they asked her to
imagine playing tennis, the regions that trigger motion joined in. Indeed, her
scans were barely different from those of healthy volunteers. The woman, it
appears, had glimmerings of consciousness.
Try to comprehend what it is like to be that woman. Do you appreciate the
words and caresses of your distraught family while racked with frustration at
your inability to reassure them that they are getting through? Or do you drift
in a haze, springing to life with a concrete thought when a voice prods you,
only to slip back into blankness? If we could experience this existence, would
we prefer it to death? And if these questions have answers, would they change
our policies toward unresponsive patients--making the Terri Schiavo case look
like child's play?
---------------------------------
Alt i ÃÂà ƒÂ‚ƒÃƒÂ‚à ƒÂ‚©n. FÃÂà ƒÂƒÃ‚‚ƒÃƒÂ‚àƒÃ‚ƒÃ‚‚Â¥ Yahoo! Mail med adressekartotek, kalender og notisblokk.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]