Some comatose patients have been able to tell scientists who were in the room with them, and what was going on. New research is showing proof that there is always some kind of consciousness going on.
Scientists are examining the brain waves of patients in a coma on a whole new level of awareness. Using electroencephalography EEG patterns or a grid of communication across the brain and its regions, its alive. Patients once thought to be in a vegetative state are conscious. The study is striking and new hope for recovery is helping doctors to better diagnose patients.
The study was published in the journal PLOS Computation Biology. Patients in a coma may not be able to communicate with others in what we would think of as normal but the need to connect is there. The autonomic functions and breathing are preserved. Top scientists from the fields of neuroscience, biology, psychology, physics, computation are interested in rigorous research of the underlying mechanisms of consciousness.Brain waves were once thought of as a tool for indexing mental experience but now brain waves are looked at as not only the reflection of activity but also the cause of it.
Experience is quantinized. The brain is sampling the world in pulses, or in chunks at a time. Like the spokes on a wheel which seem to be going in one direction when the wheel is moving, the reverse notion is also observed. So does consciousness observe the details of the spoke location and the perception of the reverse motion. As the brain synchronizes to the perceiving the information of what consciousness is observing the rhythm of thought. If scientists discover the basics of consciousness what in the world would result from it?
