The Line Gets Blurrier Between Being Knocked Out or Awake.

       The article that I chose to interpret is called Awake or Knocked Out? The Line Gets Blurrier by James Gorman, published by The New York Times. I found this article quite interesting because I have always wondered about the question it is intending to answer. The article relates to the concept of consciousness as discussed in the Ravenous Brain by Daniel Bor. In his section, A Thin Veil Between Life and Death, he discusses the vegetative state which is characterized by having some sort of sleep-wake cycle and sometimes opening one’s eyes, but no awareness that oneself is in a vegetative state. The news article focuses on unconsciousness, consciousness and the differences between them.

 According to James, it is a continuing struggle to determine what consciousness is and where it comes from in the brain. One of the contributors to this problem is the fact that the word consciousness has multiple definitions. However, since the discovery and use of ether as an anesthetic in 1846, a lot has been learned about the unconscious mind. Currently, researchers use anesthetic drugs, such as propofol and dexmedetomidine, alongside different types of brain scans to observe which parts of the brain turn off and on. For example, a study by The Journal of Neuroscience found that the command for opening one’s eyes could be completed without the need for higher level thinking parts of the brain. Dr. Alkire found from his research that the brain stem and other primitive parts of the brain turn on first when coming into consciousness. Meanwhile, other research from Adrian Owen shows that consciousness is not a simple on or off method, it is a process that involves varying levels of gradation. Currently, we define consciousness as to whether one can respond to commands or not. One question we are still struggling to answer is that if a patient has no recollection of an event, was he even aware of it? How could we ever answer this question?

In Daniel Bor’s book he discusses the vegetative state and how only half of VS patients recover and regain consciousness, and that the longer one is in VS the less likely recovery can occur. VS is a form of unconsciousness that can be linked with brain injury, infection or drug overdose. There are two types of VS, one lasting longer than a month is referred to as persistent vegetative state and one lasting more than a year is referred to as permanent vegetative state. Like the news article mentioned, it can be difficult to discern the difference in consciousness and VS. Reflexes such as grinding of the teeth, smiling and weeping may occur during a VS. These reflexes can be difficult for doctors and loved ones to interpret as just random reflexes instead of intentional and conscious actions. To determine consciousness doctors look for intentional movements such as the eyes following stimuli, and speech as indicators. However, this is not a completely successful method with over 43% of patients being misdiagnosed. As the news article mentioned, research could be done using anesthetics and many different brain scans ranging from PET, CT or even MRI to discern the active regions of the brain during unconsciousness. This research can help us learn about the vegetative state and maybe how to avoid it in the future.

Gorman, James. "Awake or Knocked Out? The Line Gets Blurrier." The New York Times. The New York Times, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/17/science/studying-states-of-consciousness.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3As%2C%7B%222%22%3A%22RI%3A13%22%7D>.