Law & Politics | By April 21, 2008 | By Jared Tanner, MScloseJared Tanner, MS Name: Jared Tanner
Site: http://www.brainybehavior.com
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About: Mr. Tanner has an MS degree in psychology and is currently a PhD student in clinical psychology with an emphasis in neuropsychology. As a clinical psychologist in training, his interests are mainly in abnormal human behavior. With an emphasis in neuropsychology, he is interested in normal and abnormal brain structure and functioning. At the most basic level, neuropsychologists are interested in understanding the relationships between the brain and behavior. | 4 Comments

Persistent Vegetative States: Legal and Political Ramifications

One controversial area where the brain, politics, and law collide is in cases where people suffer severe brain damage and are in a persistent vegetative state (this is more accurately termed complete vegetative state). In this state, the higher cortical functions of the brain are essentially wiped out. The person’s brain stem is often still intact so breathing, swallowing, eye-blink, and other basic functions still can occur. However, without the neocortex (cortex that is not brainstem), the person cannot really see, hear, speak, or think. Read more →