A brain scan has given a brain injury patient who was thought to have been in a vegetative state the ability to communicate by answering "yes" or "no".
The 29-year-old Belgian man had not moved for five years but researchers from Cambridge University enabled him to communicate by monitoring his brain activity when they asked simple questions.
Speaking to the Times, Adrian Owen, of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge and a leader of the research, said: "It's very possibly the case that we will get into a situation within ten years where patients incapable of any response are able to communicate using their brain alone on a day-to-day basis."
The research is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A recent study by Canadian researchers found that 35 per cent of brain injuries could be prevented if skiers and snowboarders wore helmets.
News from Serious Law, specialist traumatic brain injury solicitors