ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes the different concepts of dissociation in vegetative state (VS). The stimulus-induced or task-related activity dissociates from the phenomenal features of consciousness, implying what it describe as 'neuronal-phenomenal dissociation'. Trace such neuronal-phenomenal dissociation back to the decoupling of the neuronal mechanisms underlying stimulus-induced or task-related activity from those related to associating that neural activity with consciousness. The chapter postulates that the neuronal-neuronal dissociation can be traced back to the decoupling between resting-state activity and stimulus-induced activity. Rest-stimulus dissociation means that the intrinsic resting state activity and the extrinsic stimulus no longer properly interact with each other anymore leading to altered or deficient rest-stimulus interaction. The notion of rest-stimulus dissociation entails that the question for the presence versus absence of consciousness can no longer be decided upon the presence or absence of stimulus-induced activity with the consecutive neuronal-cognitive inference. The empirical investigation of rest-stimulus interaction allows then for what can be described as neuronal-phenomenal inference on the conceptual level.
