Gravely damaged brains have ‘bottleneck’

Signaling loop in healthier subjects is broken for patients in vegetative state

Talk between the brain’s decision-making center, or frontal cortex, and other brain regions might distinguish aware individuals from those stripped of conscious thought. Identifying such signaling malfunctions could speed the diagnosis of vegetative states and give scientists insight into such devastating disorders, an international team of researchers reports May 12 in Science.