By Ania Mizgalewicz and Grace Lee
The world first heard from Canadian Scott Routley this past week. Routley, who has been in a diagnosed vegetative state for the last 12 years, seemed to communicate to scientists via signals measures from blood flowing in his brain that he was not in pain. The finding caught the headline attention of major news sites and spurred vast public commentary. Comments ranged from fearful to hopeful about mind reading, clinical applications of technology, and the ability of this technology to allow patients to communicate their desires to live.
Leading neuroscientist Adrian Owen in London, Ontario, articulates that the technology currently allows patients to respond to yes or no questions, but may one day be used to aide in more interactive communication. Questions would center on daily living preferences, attempting to improve quality of life and health care.
The findings by Owen and his group are truly exciting and provide great hope to the historically neglected population of people with serious brain injuries. Here at the National Core for Neuroethics, we encourage more discussion about the ethical implications of this technology. Questions such as those surrounding decisions about end of life are far in the future. The focus at the present should thus remain on how to validate this technology to one day be used in the clinical setting. If clinical use will be feasible in the future, we would need to address questions about access to the technology and the impact that its availability would have on families of patients.
Great caution and restraint is needed when coupling this still emerging technology with concerns about mind reading, or clinical decision-making about end of life. Hype here unfairly detracts from the true value of this work. With one in five vegetative patients showing signs of consciousness in these studies, the focus should remain on improving their daily surroundings, providing them a means of communication, and supporting their family members. It should also spark a conversation on the effectiveness and validity of current clinical tests used to diagnose these patients at the bedside.
Neuroethics at the Core 