Tag Archives: science

What’s new in spinal cord repair?

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COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

Tuesday, June 7, 2022
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM PDT
Please register here for the Zoom details: www.ccmtg.eventbrite.ca

Come join us for an interactive conversation with experts to discuss the latest in different approaches to spinal cord repair!

PANELISTS:
Andrea Townson, MD, FRCPC
Medical Co-Chair, Regional Rehab Program, VCHA
Clinical Professor
Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia

John Madden, PhD, PEng
Director, Advanced Materials and Process Engineering Laboratory
Professor
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of British Columbia

Karim Fouad, PhD
Co-Director and Editor, Open Data Commons-SCI
Professor and Canada Research Chair for Spinal Cord Injury
Department of Physical Therapy and Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta

MODERATED BY:
Judy Illes, CM, PhD
Director, Neuroethics Canada
Professor and Distinguished University Scholar, UBC Distinguished Professor in Neuroethics
Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia

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Neuroethics Canada Wins First Place at 2018 Brain Awareness Week Sticker Design Contest

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Neuroethics Canada is pleased to share that our submission for the 2018 Brain Awareness Week (BAW) Sticker Design Contest won first place and will be the face of next year’s festivities!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support and votes! 
 
You can read more about our in-house brain illustrator, Marianne Bacani, her experience on creating the winning design, and what Neuroethics Canada has planned for the 2018 BAW here:
 
In the meantime, make sure to follow us online through our socials (@NeuroethicsUBC) for the latest and other updates about our free open-to-the-public events for 2018 BAW and other projects!
 
We look forward to seeing you all at next year’s BAW celebrations!

 

Communication with vegetative state patients: Dialogue or soliloquy?

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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.

Top image: wellcome images / flickr
Bottom image: Noel A. Tanner / flickr