Cited by 216Traumatic Brain Injury ResearchPhilosophy and Theoretical ScienceFetal and Pediatric Neurological Disorders

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Consciousness in congenitally decorticate children: developmental vegetative state as self-fulfilling prophecy

Shewmon, D Alan, Holmes, Gregory L, Byrne, Paul A·1999·Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology

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Abstract

According to traditional neurophysiological theory, consciousness requires neocortical functioning, and children born without cerebral hemispheres necessarily remain indefinitely in a developmental vegetative state. Four children between 5 and 17 years old are reported with congenital brain malformations involving total or near-total absence of cerebral cortex but who, nevertheless, possessed discriminative awareness: for example, distinguishing familiar from unfamiliar people and environments, social interaction, functional vision, orienting, musical preferences, appropriate affective responses, and associative learning. These abilities may reflect 'vertical' plasticity of brainstem and diencephalic structures. The relative rarity of manifest consciousness in congenitally decorticate children could be due largely to an inherent tendency of the label 'developmental vegetative state' to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

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Authors: Shewmon, D. A., Holmes, G. L., & Byrne, P. A.
Affiliations: Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (US)
ORCID: Shewmon, D Alan
Holmes, Gregory L
Byrne, Paul A
Venue: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 1999-06
Volume: 41
Issue: 6
Pages: 364-374
ISSN: 0012-1622 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1017/s0012162299000821
OpenAlex: W2166891515
Cited by: 215
References: 73
Citations by year: 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
FWCI: 1.09
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: doi.wiley.com/10.1002/tdm_license_1 (tdm, 5936 d)
Locations: Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury Research
Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Fetal and Pediatric Neurological Disorders
Keywords: consciousness, brain malformations, self-fulfilling prophecy
MeSH terms: Brain, Brain Diseases, Child, Consciousness, Female, Humans, Male, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Persistent Vegetative State

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Consciousness in congenitally decorticate children: developmental vegetative state as self-fulfilling prophecy

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