(Image: Srivas Chennu/University of Cambridge)
These colourful Mohawks might be key to identifying people who are locked in their bodies with no way to communicate.
People who are in a vegetative state can sometimes have some awareness of their surroundings, but it can be difficult for doctors and family to work out how much when they can鈥檛 respond physically or verbally.
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Researchers at the University of Cambridge measured 32 patients鈥� brain activity using an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine. The team analysed the networks of signals between brain regions in a bid to discover what they call 鈥渢he neural signatures of consciousness鈥�, shown in this image.
They discovered that in some of these patients, the networks looked similar to those of healthy people. These same patients had shown signs of awareness in more laborious tests, such as those in which they have to respond to the command 鈥渋magine playing tennis鈥� while having an MRI scan of their brain.
The technique could lead to a relatively cheap and easy method of identifying a person鈥檚 level of consciousness.
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