Vegetative man tells doctors ‘I’m not in pain’ via MRI communication

[BlueStreak]

34. Are we supposed to believe ...

That they could not sense any brain activity at all -- hence the PVS diagnosis, yet the guy certainly blinked his eyes and seemed to have facial expressions?

Are we to believe that they couldn't measure any mental activity at the point that he was being given instructions -- instructions that would require significant mental processing. Yet then minutes later they could detect mental activity that they interpreted as "I'm thinking about playing tennis"?

It seems to me it would take more mental activity to process the instructions than it would take to imagine a game of tennis.

And how do they know he wasn't trying NOT to imagine tennis at that point? The instructions were "If you feel no pain, then imagine you are playing tennis." Well, if I understood that and I was in severe pain, I would be trying really hard not to imagine a game of tennis.

Try that right now. Don't think about playing a game of tennis. Don't think about a great backstroke. Don't think about the smell of the fresh air. Don't think about the sound of the racquet hitting the ball. Don't think about planting your feet on the baseline. Don't think about serving an ace.

How did that go for you?