This image shows the distinct patterns of activity in a healthy control and in a brain-damaged patient resulting from two different mental imagery tasks. The patient, previously diagnosed as being in a vegetative state, was able to follow commands to “imagine playing tennis” or “imagine moving around the rooms of your house,” and generated the same patterns as the healthy controls. This ability to reliably engage in purposeful mental activity indicates awareness.

MONTI, M. M., VANHAUDENHUYSE, A., COLEMAN, M. R., BOLY, M., PICKARD, J. D., TSHIBANDA, L., OWEN, A. M., & LAUREYS S. (2010). WILLFUL MODULATION OF BRAIN ACTIVITY IN DISORDERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS (FIGURE 1), NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, 362, 579–589.