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COMMENTS AND OPINIONS
The Consciousness Dilemma: Feel or Feel of Feeling?
Marco Sarà, MD;
Francesca Pistoia, MD;
Giuseppe Cernera, MD;
Simona Sacco, MD
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We would like to comment on the work by Owen et al1 on the usefulness of functional magnetic resonance imaging to detect covert awareness in the vegetative state. Functional neuroimaging techniques can provide substantial contributions to a better understanding of the complex pathophysiology of disorders of consciousness. In the article, Owen and colleagues suggest that functional magnetic resonance imaging provides a new means for detecting conscious awareness when a standard clinical approach is unable to provide that information.
However, we have 2 main concerns. First, the approach may fall into the well-known logical fallacy post hoc, ergo propter hoc. In fact, activation of some specific isolated brain areas does not unequivocally imply their involvement in the hypothetical neural network underlying consciousness.2 Why can't the reported activation be considered an implicit preconscious neural response? Processing a stimulus does . . . [Full Text of this Article] AUTHOR INFORMATION
RELATED ARTICLE
Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Detect Covert Awareness in the Vegetative State
Adrian M. Owen, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, Matthew H. Davis, Steven Laureys, and John D. Pickard
Arch Neurol. 2007;64(8):1098-1102.
ABSTRACT
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RELATED LETTER
The Consciousness Dilemma: Feel or Feel of Feeling?—Reply
Adrian M. Owen, Martin R. Coleman, Melanie Boly, Matthew H. Davis, Steven Laureys, and John D. Pickard
Arch Neurol. 2008;65(3):418-419.
EXTRACT
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