Patient Revives After 19 Years By Rewiring Brain

dylanduck writes "A study of the recovery of a man who spent 19 years in a minimally conscious state has revealed the likely cause of his regained consciousness - his brain rewired itself around the injured areas into totally novel structures. It suggests the human brain shows far greater potential for recovery and regeneration then ever suspected." From the article: "There were ... significant changes between scans taken just two months after the recovery, and the most recent, at 18 months. Some of the new pathways had receded again, while others seem to have strengthened and taken over as Wallis continued to improve."

So, did he get X-ray vision?

[10Ghz (453478)]

"Surprisingly, the circuits look nothing like normal brain anatomy"

Well, it IS possible! Right?

Re:So, did he get X-ray vision?

[CaymanIslandCarpedie (868408)]

Everyone knows you don't get x-ray vision from being in a comma and having your brain rewire itself. You become a physchic who can see the past and present simply by touching people or objects.

Re:So, did he get X-ray vision?

[by Anonymous Coward]

How about if you're in a semi-colon? Or a period?

Re:So, did he get X-ray vision?

[siriuskase (679431)]

How about if you're in a semi-colon? Or a period?

If surviving a period makes you better, that would explain women.

Damn typical slashdot stories

[zegebbers (751020)]

it took me about 5 tries before I realised this wasn't about brain patents :(

Re:Damn typical slashdot stories

[babbling (952366)]

Software patients must be stopped.

Please note...

[Homology (639438)]

that although Slashdot regulars generally are in a "minimally conscious state", for rewiring to occur there must be something to rewire in the first place.

Re:Please note...

[brunes69 (86786)]

You are referring to an urban legend that is not true. It results from a mis-quotation around the idea that for any one task you use about 10% of your brain - but for a variety of different tasks you use all of it.

See http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm [snopes.com] for more info.

Yeah but can he see the future?

[gijoel (628142)]

Because I'd be pretty pissed if I spent 18 years in a coma and I wasn't psychic.

Re:Yeah but can he see the future?

[metamatic (202216)]

"What do you mean, 18 years and it's still President Bush?"

Terri Schiavo...

[l33td00d42 (873726)]

... was unavailable for comment.

/so going to hell

Re:Terri Schiavo...

[ScentCone (795499)]

Terri Schiavo ... was unavailable for comment.

Thanks for taking one for team and saying what everyone else was thinking. But just in case anyone is really thinking there's an important parallel there or anything, remember that her case was substantially different: most of her brain was literally dead and gone - actually a mush of fluid. Rewiring "around" an injured area (as in the case cited) depends upon having surrounding brain material that's still viable. She was coasting on real low-level left-overs, and there simply wasn't a platform for that sort of recovery.

Re:Terri Schiavo...

[plunge (27239)]

While Schiavo in particular was indeed gorked beyond ungorking, its a little misleading to show laypeople that scan and claim that it dramatically demonstrates the point. There are actually people walking around today with CT scans that are similarly horrifying in the huge spaces. There are people making do okay with some very abnormal brains. The difference with Schiavo is that the spaces were caused by particular sorts of massive brain inujries and the complete atrophy of particular areas of the brain. But you can't tell that directly from a CT, especially as a layperson. For all a layperson knows, the critical areas could simply be moved around and squished but still functioning to some degree. In Schiavo they were not, but a layperson just can't tell so dramatically as looking at one CT.

It's also important to remember that the brain is not ALL just undifferentiated mush, but has all sort of specialized areas that cannot be replaced by other specialized areas. The guy in this article has damage to some of those areas, and more importantly ther breaking of important connections BETWEEN areas, but not a total loss of any area: they still had functioning sections that rewired and worked overtime to compensate. However, if both of your hippocampi die, it's not like your amygdala is suddenly going to switch over and start performing their functions.

This case has been paraded around because of the Schiavo case, but in doing so its only illuminated how medically ignorant some people are: they don't care about the specifics, or learning about how the brain works, and they lump together uncertainties about one area of knowledge about the brain (its ability to create new connections to repair damage, which contrary to the sort of hyperbolic claims of the article, we've always known is pretty plastic and this is just an extreme example) and try to pretend that raise questions about a completely different area of knowledge: all without acknowledging that there are any key differences or even thinking about them.

Yes!

[MyLongNickName (822545)]

There is hope for Slashdot after all!

Neuronal remodeling

[BWJones (18351)]

Neuroscientists in the epilepsy and learning and memory communities have known for years about the nervous systems ability to rewire and remodel in response to deafferentation. In fact, the reluctance to believe in this by other members of the neuroscience community (vision community) led to some two decades of misunderstanding of retinal degenerative diseases until we came along and demonstrated conclusively in the retina that remodeling also occurs. The deal is that neurons need input. They either get it via glutamatergic signaling or calcium mediated signaling in normal circumstances. When those signaling mechanisms are disturbed, neurons either rewire seeking additional input, or they die.

Oblig. Simpsons

[amliebsch (724858)]

NEWSIE:
Tonight, on Eyewitness News: a man who's been in a coma for 19 years wakes up.

MAN:
Do Sonny and Cher still have that stupid show?

NEWSIE:
No, uh, she won an Oscar, and he's a Congressman.

MAN:
Good night! [Turns over and dies.]

El bulto

[Spy der Mann (805235)]

There was a mexican movie (ficticious) about a 19-yo guy who went into coma in 1971 and woke up in 1992, having to cope with a grown up family, an older (and remarried) wife, and of course, new political times.

It was called "El bulto" [imdb.com] (the bag). Very interesting movie.

TV Show?

[Joao (155665)]

I saw a TV show about this guy some time ago (PBS? Discovery? National Geographic?). Yes, he is awake, but the poor guy is in very bad shape. He has very limited use of his body; his brain is unable to store any new information for more than a few seconds; and his frontal lobe is basically gone so he has no sense of boundaries when communicating with people. His 20-year old daughter is his primary caretaker, and since he thinks he's a 19 year-old and is unable to remember that she is his daughter, he keeps asking her for sexual favors and groping her any chance he has. He is also very verbally abusive towards her and pretty much everyone else.

Yes, he's no longer in a coma, but he is far from functional.

Re:I, for one...

[joshier (957448)]

Not funny anymore.

Re:We can rebuild him....

[Wireless Joe (604314)]

Besides, would you really want to wake up 20 years older, with years of rehabilitation to look forward to?

My son developed Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) soon after he was born. PVL is usually characterized by large cysts in the brain that affect particular functions. In my son's case, the PVL was diffuese and spread throughout his brain in small, rice-grain sized cysts and affects his general functionality. We're not "keeping him alive" in a medical sence, but he does seemed destined to spend the rest of his life in a "minimally conscious state".

He's four years old now, and I would love if my son, at any age, woke up one day and started to learn the things he's missed (talking, crawling and then walking, etc). My wife and I read a lot about brain injury and the possibility of his recovery. The nature of his injury always gives me hope that because the damaged areas are so small, it may be easier for his brain to compensate.

Unfortunately, because of the state of medical research in the USA (stem cell especially), My family is probably going to have to travel to another country to take advantage of any treatments that may be developed in the next few years.

Re:TERRI SCHIAVO (December 3, 1963 - March 31, 200

[tpjunkie (911544)]

I hate to feed the troll, but Terri Schiavo's brain was destroyed. She was blind, brain dead, and for all intents and purposes, a shell. There's a huge difference between her case, and this one.

Re:TERRI SCHIAVO (December 3, 1963 - March 31, 200

[plunge (27239)]

Over the past few years, I've steadily built up respect and mod-points to the point where I have a +1 comment bonus. Well, it was all for this one moment: so that I could say something that needs to be said, and yet still have my account and maybe even my +1 bonus survive the consequences. ...

You, sir, or madam, are embarrasingly stupid.

Re:This is why I'm against organ transplants

[PhotoBoy (684898)]

I believe the difference between this case and something like Terry Schiavo is that there was still measurable brain activity in this guy so he wasn't brain dead.

But I agree it would be pretty shitty to wake up and find half your body gone to organ donation. The recent successful face transplant in France used part of the face of a brain dead patient. Imagine waking up to be told you'd had your face removed and given to someone else!

Medical bill

[phorm (591458)]

Keeping him on support all this time must have been (or will be) an incredible financial drain on his family. I'd imagine that the medical bill was ludicrous, so hopefully he comes from a family with money. Being alive is great, but life sure isn't going to be easy considering:

a) When he looks into a mirror his face will be 19 years older... from 19 to 38 kinda sucks
b) His muscle mass will be negligable. After being in a cast for only 3-4 weeks after an ankle break my leg muscles had shrunk and strength decreased noticably
c) He's got a lot of educational catching up to do. Hopefully he worked as a carpenter, plumber, or some other job where old skills are still useful with some upgrading (if he was into computers 19 years ago he's gonna be way behind)
d) Likely there's still a bit of other funkiness with his body after 19 years and major brain damage.
e) Scientists are going to poke and prod him to research this regeneration.

On the plus side:

a) Medicine should be a bit better than it was then
b) Technology in many cases will be pretty cool. Even if he's bedridden for a long time it'll likely be a wonder for him to try out a modern console
c) That first post-vegetitive shower is going to be really nice
d) Add to that a real dinner after being on hospital food and drips for 19 years...
e) Somebody with a brain that regenerates that well will be of interest to science, which is annoying but possibly good for paying the bills.

Re:At the risk of fanning a fire...

[ObsessiveMathsFreak (773371)]

Now there is this case of a man who was declared by experts to be in a permanent minimally-conscious state waking up after 19 years. Makes me wonder if letting treatment continue wouldn't be such a bad idea. What if you got a second chance to live?

Blow that for a game of soldiers. If I woke up after 19 years in a coma, my first question would be why didn't someone hadn't pulled the plug/ removed the tube yet.

A full recovery never happens, except in movies. People don't just wake up from a coma. The damage affects them for the rest of their lives. After 19 years, the person you knew would be a stranger to you anyway, and there's not much of that person left.

I wouldn't want anyone close to me to waste their lives praying over a vegetable for 19 years in the hope that a half-me will wake up to be taken care of in much the same way. There comes a point when modern medicine stops saving people's lives and is simply prolonging suffering, both for the victim and their family. It's not easy to gauge when that line gets crossed, but when it has been, its time to let go.