How can we ever know, unequivocally, that another person is aware? Notwithstanding deeper philosophical considerations about the nature of consciousness itself, the only reliable method we have for detecting awareness in others is by eliciting a predicted response to an external prompt or command. Logically therefore, our ability to detect awareness in others is determined, not by whether they are aware or not, but by their ability to communicate that fact through a recognised behavioural response. This problem exposes a central conundrum in the study of awareness in general, and in particular, how it relates to the vegetative state and other so-called ‘disorders of consciousness’. From this perspective, I will discuss various solutions to this conundrum using functional neuroimaging. In particular, I will contrast those circumstances in which fMRI data can be used to infer awareness in the absence of a reliable behavioural response, with those circumstances in which it cannot.

Video registration (1h24min)

Podcast interview (40min)

Monti, M.M., Vanhaudenhuyse, A., Coleman, M.R., Boly, M., Pickard, J.D., Tshibanda, J-F.L., Owen, A.M., Laureys, S. Willful modulation of brain activity and communication in disorders of consciousness. New England Journal of Medicine, 362, 579-589, 2010.

Owen, A. M. Coleman, M. Functional Imaging In The Vegetative State. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 9, 235-243, 2008

Coleman, M.R., Owen, A. M., Pickard, J.D. Functional imaging and the vegetative state. Advances in Clinical Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, 7, 35-36, 2007

Davis MH, Coleman MR, Absalom, AR, Rodd JM, Johnsrude IS, Matta BF, Owen AM, Menon DK. Dissociating speech perception and comprehension at reduced levels of awareness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(41): 16032-16037, 2007

Owen, A. M., Coleman, M.R., Davis, M.H., Boly, M., Laureys, S., Pickard, J.D. Detecting awareness in the vegetative state. Science, 313, 1402, 2006.

*** All of these papers can be downloaded from here (along with most of my other papers):    http://web.me.com/adrian.owen/site/Publications.html