Birch is a professor of philosophy at the London School of Economics and author of “The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI.” A stroke, a traumatic brain injury — ...

Every year, approximately 130,000 Dutch people suffer some form of acquired brain injury. The causes can be traumatic such as a fall or road-traffic accident, but also a brain hemorrhages or lack of ...

Sometimes, following a brain injury, patients have periods of wakefulness but can't communicate with those around them. Might they still be feeling pain, pleasure or discomfort? Could it be that they ...

A study of the “miraculous” recovery of a man who spent 19 years in a minimally conscious state has revealed the likely cause of his regained consciousness. The findings suggest the human brain shows ...

I recently interviewed Daniel Toker, a 33-year-old neurologist at UCLA who's exploring innovative ways to cure coma. Toker was overflowing with ideas to treat disorders of consciousness, which include ...

Disputes about consciousness, its roots and requirements, are more than philosophical. They are of importance in real-world settings, especially in clinical contexts. Clinicians routinely face the ...

At least 25% of unresponsive patients with a disorder of consciousness show signs of brain activity, an estimate that is higher than previous studies suggest. "We found that at least 1 in 4 patients ...

Disorders of consciousness encompass a spectrum of clinical states arising from severe brain injury, ranging from coma to unresponsive wakefulness syndrome and minimally conscious state. Accurate ...

Every year, approximately 130,000 Dutch people suffer some form of acquired brain injury. The causes can be traumatic such as a fall or road-traffic accident, but also a brain hemorrhages or lack of ...

Sometimes, following a brain injury, patients have periods of wakefulness but can’t communicate with those around them. Might they still be feeling pain, pleasure or discomfort? Could it be that they ...