Man in vegetative state for 15 years ‘showing consciousness’

A 35-year-old man who had been in a vegetative state for 15 years is showing signs of consciousness after receiving a pioneering treatment based on nerve stimulation.

In the month since a vagus nerve stimulator was put into his chest, the man, who was injured in a car accident, has begun responding to simple orders.

The findings, which were reported in Current Biology, may help to show that by stimulating the vagus nerve, “it is possible to improve a patient’s presence in the world”, said lead researcher Angela Sirigu of Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, in Lyon, France.