'Coma Man' Is Conscious, but His Typing Isn't Real

(Feb. 16) -- The strange case of Rom Houben, a Belgian man found to be conscious more than 20 years after doctors said he had gone into a coma, has a new twist.

Though Houben is nearly completely paralyzed, Dr. Steven Laureys of the University of Liège in Belgium ran brain scans and reported last November that the man's brain activity was nearly the same as that of a healthy person -- a condition known as being "locked in."

Reports said Houben, 46, had learned to communicate with one non-paralyzed finger and the help of a speech therapist and a computer touch screen, a method known as "facilitated communication." Videos showed Houben rapidly typing messages while his speech therapist, Linda Wouters, supported his arm and held his hand.

Wouters said he told her which letters to type with subtle twitches of his finger. After three years of practice, Houben reportedly was planning to write a book about his experiences.

But recent tests done by Laureys proved the typing was not real, according to Der Spiegel. Instead, Wouters was unknowingly directing Houben's movements, a common problem with facilitated communication.

From the outset, skeptics had said the typing was false and compared it to the movements of a Ouija board. Laureys tested the method initially by showing Houben objects when the two were alone, and then asking him questions about the objects when Wouters was in the room. Houben answered the questions correctly.

But in an interview with New Scientist in November, Laureys would not say whether he believed Houben was successfully communicating, only that his brain scans had showed his patient was conscious. Since then, Laureys has repeated tests over several weeks and has concluded that the communications are false. Houben doesn't have the strength to work the keyboard, Der Spiegel reports.

Laureys said the tests don't mean facilitated communication never works, just not in Houben's case. So the team will have to start over in trying to invent a way to "unlock" Houben.

But the medical team is nearly certain that Houben is conscious and aware of what's going on around him. Last July, Laureys published a paper in the journal BMC Neurology showing that as many as 41 percent of vegetative patients may actually be somewhat conscious.