WHAT IS NOT BRAIN DEATH: THE VEGETATIVE STATE and MOVEMENTS IN BRAIN DEATH*

The main objective of this meeting convened at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences is to discuss the topic of Brain Death. Although in general there is no debate within the scientific community, the concept of Brain Death has been questioned by lay people and in some cases by physicians. For this reason it seemed appropriate to begin this two-day conference discussing ‘What is not Brain Death’, referring to the loss of consciousness that occurs in coma and in the vegetative state, two neurological scenarios that in different medical and non medical circles are not infrequently confused or used interchangeably with brain death. It is important to remind ourselves that the objectives defined for this Working Group on the Signs of Death at the request of Chancellor Bishop Monsignor Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences following the instructions of the Holy Father Benedict XVI, is to ‘study the signs of death in order to explore at a purely scientific level the application of the criterion of brain death’. Following this request, I am presenting two scientific subjects and will avoid most philosophical aspects of the discussion. The first presentation is entitled ‘What is not Brain Death: The Vegetative State’ and the second is ‘Movements in Brain Death’.