Around one in four patients with severe brain injury who cannot move or speak – because they are in a prolonged coma, vegetative or minimally conscious state – is still able to perform complex mental tasks, a major international study has concluded in confirmation of much smaller previous studies.
Even mild concussion can cause long-lasting effects to the brain, according to researchers at the University of Cambridge. Using data from a Europe-wide study, the team has shown that for almost a half of all people who receive a knock to the head, there are changes in how regions of the brain communicate with each other, potentially causing long term symptoms such as fatigue and cognitive impairment.
A brain network previously associated with daydreaming has been found to play an important role in allowing us to perform tasks on autopilot. Scientists at the University of Cambridge showed that far from being just ‘background activity’, the so-called ‘default mode network’ may be essential to helping us perform routine tasks.
What is it about the human brain that makes language possible? Two evolutionary systems working together, say neuroscientists Professor William Marslen-Wilson and Professor Lorraine Tyler.
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