(Photo: Ben Grantham)
It may surprise you, but Dr. Bonnie Beaver, a professor at Texas A&M's College of Veterinary Medicine has found clear evidence to support that conclusion. Cats don't just sleep. At 16-20 hours per day, they sleep more than any other animal. Benjamin Wermund writes in the Houston Chronicle:
Beaver says cats have evolved to become natural sleepers.
"Early on, they had to hunt for food to stay alive, and that desire for food can require a lot of energy," Beaver said. "So sleeping helped cats conserve their energy, and even though the common housecat does not have to hunt for its next meal, a cat is still conditioned for sleep."
Cats also probably dream, Beaver says. She knows this because dreaming happens during REM sleep and cats definitely have REM sleep. They also twitch their whiskers and paws during sleep, another sign they're probably in dreamland.
"They also exhibit movements during REM sleep, so it is possible they can dream," Beaver said. "What are they dreaming about? Since we can't ask them, we really don't know."
What do cats dream about? Probably sitting on top of the entire world or hunting humans.
-via Dave Barry
Comments (2)
however, there are folks who have been "locked-in" and there was one (disturbing) research investigation into awareness levels of vegetative patients that showed brain activity consistent with awareness -- here's the pubmed entry:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16959998
"We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate preserved conscious awareness in a patient fulfilling the criteria for a diagnosis of vegetative state. When asked to imagine playing tennis or moving around her home, the patient activated predicted cortical areas in a manner indistinguishable from that of healthy volunteers."
note that the researcher's findings have not been verified or replicated, but the study and research is probably still very solid science.
Also, Frontline did a very good documentary in '93 on FC.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3439467496200920717#
Thank goodness James Randi is still out there. It sounds like a human Ouija board.
Thanks for that link! Fascinating video, watched the whole thing.
What's really sad is that the experts and the so-called doctor journalist just take this at face value. And I have to consider that this story is being promoted cynically right now just to inflame anti health care reform sentiment.
Just how long has this particular "facilitation" gone on? Who initiated it and why? How long did it take for the "facilitator" to produce communication and what's the supposed process (feeling micro muscle twitches or is there a psychic claim?) and who does the "facilitator" work for?
Further experiments (e.g. in which the child was shown an image not shown to the facilitator and asked to describe it) showed the communication to be entirely that of the facilitator.
These experiments are easily implemented and would quickly set the record straight for this subject, as well, were the patient's family (and doctors?) not wedded to the false hope provided by what is almost certainly a farce.
The paper doesn't mention facilitation. Nor does it mention communication, except as one measure in assessing vegetative state.
If Randi is dead, then there's been a cover-up of epic proportions :)
But I think that misses the point here. The patient may well be conscious; that doesn't imply anything about whether he's communicating.
I've seen facilitators facilitate while only touching an elbow or shoulder. Where are you all getting your information that facilitation "doesnt work" if the facilitator isn't looking at the keyboard.
(facilitation while only touching the elbow)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyjl4p2mNK4
How would they get the information to transmit while only touching a person's elbow or shoulder? How could a paralyzed person transmit any instructions through that elbow or shoulder as specific as "press A on the keyboard"?
Why doesn't Stephen Hawkings use s facilitator? Because he would disprove what they're doing. Strange how the only people that this supposedly wosks with are people who can not confirm the facilitator's accuracy.