Read the mind of the dead

Many patients are trapped in the state of plant life, between the boundaries of life and death and the scientific community is trying to free their minds.

Since the first deep coma cases occurred in the 1950s, the number of such cases continues to increase worldwide. Currently, in Europe alone, there are about 230,000 cases a year, and of these, it is estimated that there will be about 30,000 cases of prolonged plant life. According to BBC quoted expert Adrian Owen of the University of Western Ontario (Canada), those who are listed as plant groups are always in an unconscious state . Their eyes can open and sometimes even turn around. They can laugh, cry, moan or grumble, but can't see or understand the words. These patients move without purpose but merely act as reflexes . They seem to lose their memories, emotions, goals, traits that help each of us be unique. Their minds were closed, but the eyelids could blink, making the people around wondering whether the person lying there still had any consciousness left.

Scientists are trying to penetrate the dark curtain covering the minds of plant people - (Photo: Science Photo)

A decade ago, the answer would be extremely cold: no. However, after a long period of research, there are now three experts in the Americas and Europe that some patients in the vegetative state can still think and feel to a certain extent. In addition to Owen, expert Steven Laureys of Liege University (Belgium) and Nicholas Schiff of Cornell University (USA) are pursuing studies on plant people, especially after cases of patient awakening after time. Long deep coma. The most prominent is Kate Bainbridge, a 26-year-old teacher, who was infected with the virus in 1997, causing the brain and brain stem to become infected, pushing the patient into a deep coma. A few weeks later, Kate woke up, but switched to a plant life. Four months after receiving a new diagnosis, she became the first patient of the Cambridge expert group and conducted a tomography scan (PET) . By 1998, the results were published very positively, showing that Kate's brain reacted no differently than healthy people. And after 12 years of resurrection, Kate began to be able to say a few simple words, communicate through writing, despite spending the rest of her life in a wheelchair, according to a Nature report.

Kate hopes her case can support the study of the state of plant life. In the letter to expert Owen, she wrote: 'Please use my case to show people the importance of brain scanning methods . I used to be motionless and looked hopeless, but Brain shots show I'm still there ' . What all three experts are trying to prove is forcing the world to take a different look for some patients who are listed as vegetative living conditions. Some people may even be classified as 'completely conscious ' but have 'confined' syndrome, which means the body is completely motionless. In 2003, experts Owen and Laureys found a way to communicate with plant-living patients, including Gillian (renamed). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), Owen read Gillian's thoughts, according to a Science report. The trial of 54 plant-living patients published in 2010 continues to certify that not all plants lose consciousness.

In the coming time, experts continue to focus on methods such as PET and fMRI to read plant brains, hoping to one day bring them back to life.