ABSTRACT
Disorders of consciousness can be grouped into two classes: local disorders and global disorders. Those who sustain the most severe brain injuries will spend some time in a state of unarousable unawareness, also known as the comatose state. After a period of days or weeks, some comatose patients may enter one of two post-comatose states: the Vegetative State (VS) or the Minimally Conscious State (MCS). This chapter discusses these post-comatose disorders of consciousness, the use of neuroimaging and electroencephalography to detect preserved consciousness in post-comatose patients, and the ethical challenges that are raised by the detection of consciousness in these patients. It examines the question of how covert consciousness might be investigated, and also examines the implications of covert consciousness for diagnostic taxonomy. The chapter considers some of the ethical issues raised by the discovery of covert consciousness in post-comatose patients.
