Comments on: scifilter

scifilter

Paris Hilton — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:29:08 -0800

Man comes out of coma (or minimally conscious state) after 20 years. Apparently his brain grew entirely new structures not found in normal brains.

By: fenriq

fenriq — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 18:59:58 -0800

Even though they go to great lengths to make sure people understand that Terry Wallis and his medical problems are not the same as Terri Schiavo, there will be people that will use this story to call people who wanted the feeding tube removed murderers. Even though these two cases are not at all the same. But how wicked cool for Terry Wallis to have "recovered" and reawoken!

By: Mikey-San

Mikey-San — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:06:27 -0800

fenriq: See also: People who don't understand that, to scientists, "theory" means something different than what most people think it means.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:07:24 -0800

Interesting... but a quick search reveals this story to be 3 years old! Doesn't sound like new information to me. Also... all other sources say 19 years? sorry to be picky.. but I was suspicious of the blogginess.

By: Grod

Grod — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:08:43 -0800

It would be even cooler if the new structures in his brain gave him powers and he became a super hero. Or something. I would have like more than this:

It is possible that if the damage were restricted solely to the axons and you waited long enough, they would just regrow back to their old targets. This appears to be what happened here. What is extraordinary about this case is that such widespread rewiring is nearly unheard of. The classical belief is that in the central nervous system (CNS) -- as opposed to the peripheral nervous system (PNS) -- regrowth of axons is suppressed by a signaling pathway that is at least partially known (involving proteins like Nogo and Nogo-R). Under this system regrowth of this nature should not occur. Even more than that, it is remarkable that after the axons started growing they managed to find their original targets. The process of axon pathfinding is complicated and involves many signalling molecules that direct the axons to the right place. It is not what I would have expected that those signals would still be present in the brain of an adult.

on what actually happened in his brain.

By: Gyan

Gyan — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:09:35 -0800

sunshinesky, he woke up 3 years ago, but the results of the research on his brain changes is what's the 'news' here.

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:11:24 -0800

Yes... I saw this on ABC about a year ago. Apparently, he has woken up, but he is suffering from a Memento (sic) syndrome. He cant remember anything that has happened after his accident. Apparently his daignosis is not too good for memory retention.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:15:14 -0800

heh, seems I neglected to read the title.. "backgroundto the 20 year coma recovery" .. I'll uh.. shut up now.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:19:57 -0800

sunshinesky: The New Scientist article is from yesterday.

By: sunshinesky

sunshinesky — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 19:28:57 -0800

I noticed that the first time around... I'm really not too out of touch, really. I swear.

By: ?!

?! — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:05:16 -0800

We know that neurons in your brain very rarely divide, but under some circumstances axons can regrow -- provide the neuron cell body is intact. It is possible that if the damage were restricted solely to the axons and you waited long enough, they would just regrow back to their old targets. This appears to be what happened here.

What were the "entirely new structures not found in normal brains?" I don't see that in the link. They had this guy on the TV this weekend. Up until a few months before the filming he was convinced he was still 20 years old. His daughter was a few months old when he went into the coma. When she visits he doesn't believe she is his daughter. She's a bit unfortable that her dad often comes on to her, but she seemed to handle it pretty well.

By: Tuwa

Tuwa — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:15:08 -0800

?!, this a New Scientist link says that the new connections were made at the back of the brain connecting the two hemispheres.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:36:32 -0800

Hey, anyone solved Rubik's cube? How'd we do in the Sarajevo Olympics? I can't wait to catch a Joe Piscopo movie, he must be huge. "No evidence of awareness of self or environment and an inability to interact with others" A minimally conscious state sounds almost like a waking dream - coming in and out of coma. Scary. I suspect the "Momento" sort of state would be almost a blessing.

By: Turtles all the way down

Turtles all the way down — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 20:57:11 -0800

What were the "entirely new structures not found in normal brains?" I can help here. It was a new gyrus that made sense of the entire works of "A Flock of Seagulls".

By: Espoo2

Espoo2 — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 21:02:20 -0800

the details of the guys experience after waking up are so much more fascinating to me than this dialectical truth political crap. boo.

By: Zozo

Zozo — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 21:13:18 -0800

In 1984, Terry Wallis has a car accident where he was thrown from his pickup. He goes into a coma. Dude was unconscious my entire life.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 21:27:58 -0800

Saw him on TV. Yeah, wonderful, great improvement. Still hoping to never be his "new and improved" state.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 23:52:54 -0800

Turtles... you've been missed!

By: BrotherCaine

BrotherCaine — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 01:04:04 -0800

How weird would it be to have a daughter who is older than you? (experientially)

By: Second Account For Making Jokey Comments

Second Account For Making Jokey Comments — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 01:21:44 -0800

By: Clamwacker

Clamwacker — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 02:13:21 -0800

It seems like a bad idea to inundate him with every update at once. At least, hopefully not. It would be pretty creepy just to walk into an electronics store, the last thing I'd want to do is deal with everybody's shit before I get to try out some new toys. I always thought it would be pretty fun to just be cryogenically frozen for 50-100 years, just to see what stuff will be like without having to watch the gradual progress of each technology. If you consider the progress in 3D graphics in the last 10 years, it would be akin to virtual reality by then, if not better.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 03:40:32 -0800

Lucky for him that the 80's is back in fashion again.

By: Gungho

Gungho — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:25:41 -0800

Discovery did a show on him a couple of years ago. "The man who slept for 19 years". The doctors preety much gave up on him, but his mother never did. She took him home and propped him in the corner (just kidding), spoke to him and took him places during his lengthy recovery.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 05:35:35 -0800

I wouldn't touch the guy's hand. I'm sure he can see awful things in my future!

By: agregoli

agregoli — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 08:08:43 -0800

I saw it on television this weekend. His life looks like utter hell. He cannot get up out of bed, he has limited motor functions. He is constantly told he isn't 20, but 40. He's constantly told that the one woman he can't recognize (and even talks dirty to) is his daughter, all grown up. He remembers her as a baby. He didn't seem to understand what had happened, and cannot form new memories. Gee, fantastic! I agree this is a medical marvel and that much research must be done to figure out why he woke up at all, but it doesn't sound like a very fun life in the slightest.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:23:07 -0800

My son was developmentally delayed in several areas and was in full-time special ed starting at age 3. At an early examination, a doctor asked us when he started to walk and we replied at about one year of age (which is normal). The doctor was surprised because he said that even at that point, my son did not have the reflexes expected from a person who can walk. In several other ways, he appears to be "wired" different from the rest of us. So I'm not surprised when I hear "his brain grew entirely new structures not found in normal brains." I've seen the same thing in my son. He is almost 16 now, taking Advanced Placement classes in high school, and plays drums and piano. And his reflexes are still abnormal.

By: glider

glider — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 12:50:05 -0800

The movie will star Kevin Bacon.

By: spazzm

spazzm — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 04:50:01 -0800

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 01:00:55 -0800

Politics aside, imagine how unsettling it would be to be this guy and discovering 20 years has passed. He missed a lot, and to have to deal with stuff like 9/11, the asian tsunamis and a vice president who shoots people in the face... well, it might almost be too much to take in all at once. there's a short story about exactly that called "The Time Traveller" by Spider Robinson. it's part of the Callahan's storyline. cheers!