Research offers hope for severely brain-damaged

[Chewbaccus]

From Reuters:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A man with severe brain injuries who spent six years in a near-vegetative state can now chew his food, watch a movie and talk with family thanks to a brain pacemaker that may change the way such patients are treated, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The 38-year-old man is the first person in a minimally conscious state to be treated with deep-brain stimulation, a treatment that uses a pacemaker and two electrodes to send impulses into a part of the brain regulating consciousness.

--snip--

"[The patient's] skull was completely crushed and he was left for dead [in a 1999 mugging]," his mother told reporters in a telephone briefing.

He spent the next five years in a nursing home with no hope of recovery. He would occasionally mouth the word yes or no, but could not communicate reliably or eat on his own.

His parents agreed to try the experimental treatment in August 2005, and doctors saw immediate results.

He was alert and could move his head to follow voices.

He can now drink from a cup, recall and speak 16 words, and watch a movie.

Rezai said he is engaged with his family, playing cards with his mother and taking short trips outside the facility.

Other reports I've seen describe the treatment as a sort of "pacemaker" - twin electrodes are inserted into the thalamus, which then emit electric pulses into the brain. The medical journals are quick to point out that this treatment worked on someone like the patient in question and not someone like Terri Schaivo because the patient was in a "near-vegetative" state. He could still respond to noises and make minor eye and thumb motions, though he could not speak. Still, appears to be a lot of potential, I'd think.