‘Alive Inside: Using neuroimaging to detect covert
consciousness in the brain-injured patient’
3 p.m. Thursday, February 28th
Ralston House, Room 241, 3615 Chestnut St.
Andrew Peterson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Greenwall Faculty Scholar, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, George Mason University
www.ippp.gmu.edu/andrew-peterson
This presentation provides an ethical analysis of the American Academy of Neurology practice guideline on disorders of consciousness. The analysis focuses on the guideline’s recommendations regarding the use of advanced neuroimaging methods to assess brain-injured patients.
Complex and multifaceted ethical issues have emerged because these methods alter the clinical understanding of consciousness. Dr. Peterson addresses issues of false hope and the prolongation of lives judged not worth living. He argues that, in spite of these concerns, there is significant benefit to using neuroimaging and electroencephalography to assess brain-injured patients.
This presentation is supported by the Penn Project on Precision Medicine for the Brain (P3MB).