What’s the News: A non-invasive test that measures brain waves could help doctors better diagnose whether a patient is truly in a vegetative state, according to a preliminary study published today in Science. What’s more, the results suggest that a particular pathway of communication in the brain is disrupted in vegetative patients but not patients with somewhat less severe brain damage—which could not only improve diagnosis, but help researchers better understand these tragic conditions.

How the Heck:

The researchers recorded the brain activity of 21 people with severe brain injuries and 22 healthy controls using an EEG, a set of electrodes placed on the scalp that pick up electrical signals generated by the brain’s neurons firing. Of the patients with brain damage, eight had been previously diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, while the other thirteen were in a minimally conscious state, meaning they retained some level of conscious awareness and ability to interact.
While recording the subjects’ brainwaves, the researchers played each of them a series of sounds with unexpected changes of tone (a one-time warble in the note). When healthy people and patients in a minimally conscious state heard the blip, their brain waves showed a spike that lasted around ...