Comments on: Man in Coma 23 Years – Is He Really Conscious?

By: LeeB

LeeB — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:00:09 +0000

Way to go, Steve! I just heard the NPR report (Feb. 17) on this, and was pleasantly surprised to hear your voice representing the doubters in this case. It was short, but sweet. It is nice to know that the mainstream media (at least a relatively enlighted branch of it) has you on their experts-to-call list. Here is hoping they call on you more often!

By: NeuroLogica Blog » Newsweek Article on Rom Houben Case

NeuroLogica Blog » Newsweek Article on Rom Houben Case — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 15:03:31 +0000

[...] of this brings me to the Rom Houben case. If you remember, I blogged about the man who was in a coma for 23 years, except he wasn’t in the kind of coma (persistent vegetative [...]

By: Science-Based Medicine » Communicating with the Locked-In

Science-Based Medicine » Communicating with the Locked-In — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:01:23 +0000

[...] the case of Rom Houben has come to media attention. He is a man in his 40’s who has been in an apparent coma for the [...]

By: Diggs747

Diggs747 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:38:58 +0000

Hey guys,I frequently listen to the skeptics guide and heard this story. I remember reading this article on digg, and am pretty pissed that I was suckered into believing this story. Please digg this story up on Digg so everyone can learn about the real facts and not the media hype.

http://digg.com/health/Man_in_Coma_23_Years_Is_He_Really_Conscious

thanks

By: Anwer Pasha

Anwer Pasha — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:15:24 +0000

Hope a second report will come soon on this issue but I am telling about my son Jawad Pasha as fully conscious and aware at many sites and he is still improving and now another PVS here also improved as Conscious. I am surprised to see these all comments. Now matters are comming clear. Main problem is loss of motor function not consciousness. Neurologists are still theirselve not clear on these issues and actually they are standing on many decades back theories and there is no success with them about PVS,MCS and LiS.

By: NeuroLogica Blog » Dr. Laureys Responds Regarding Man in Coma

NeuroLogica Blog » Dr. Laureys Responds Regarding Man in Coma — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:01:34 +0000

[...] Wednesday I wrote about Rom Houben, the 46 year old man who spent the last 23 years in an apparent vegetative state (PVS) following a [...]

By: David

David — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:14:48 +0000

Well done and much appreciated.

I’ve based a post of my own (on Science Ain’t So Bad) on this blog entry.

By: mindme

mindme — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:30:18 +0000

Mairead

The article gives us scant information about what controls were in place to guard against the doctor leaking info to the FC person, what the doctor would accept as a correct answer, etc.

The implications of this, if true, are stunning. Laureys would well be on the way to a Nobel prize in medicine. Step one, though, run a simple, well controlled test. Surely the Houben’s family would like to confirm for other families around the world that they too can unlock a powerful, poetic, alive mind.

By: tmac57

tmac57 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:54:25 +0000

Mairead-”Has nobody any comment about the snippet I posted yesterday..” I heard about that also, and it does raise questions. How rigorous were the controls, was the test repeatable, did they film it, so others can review it? Also, it still doesn’t address the apparent bogus FC that is shown in the second video posted. Maybe there is some communication going on, but there is also something fishy going on as well IMHO. I hope that this will be studied in a more careful fashion with an eye toward ferreting out cheating and bias. It would be really great if this turns out to be real, but its just too early to tell at this point.

By: Mairead

Mairead — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:59:40 +0000

Has nobody any comment about the snippet I posted yesterday from The Times, in which Laureys is quoted as saying Houben and his aide passed the test for consciousness and non-interference, respectively?