Little is known about the brain and states of consciousness – but recent studies may give grounds for hope. If a person suffers a severe brain injury, then lands in intensive care in a coma, doctors and relatives will ask whether the patient has regained consciousness yet. They often ask the injured person to move their hand, say, and if the patient fails to do so, they often assume the patient is still in such a deep coma that they are not aware of anything. But this may not necessarily be true, studies show. Some 15% to 20% of patients are thinking cognitively even if they make no outward re…