Akinetic mutism: A state in which a person is
unspeaking (mute) and unmoving
(akinetic). A textbook on clinical neurology observes that
a person with
akinetic mutism has "sleep-waking cycles but, when
apparently awake, with
eyes open, lies mute. immobile and unresponsive." Akinetic
mutism is often
due to damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. The
disorder was the
subject of a front-page story in The New York Times on
Aug. 30, 1998. The
story concerned a 14-year-old girl in Worcester, Mass.
named Audrey Santo,
bedridden for 11 years, "inert and unspeaking, the legacy
of an accidental
fall into a backyard swimming pool" in 1987. "She has had a
steady stream of
visitors to her home," according to the Times, "including
priests and some
people who claim that they were miraculously healed by
her." According to
Audrey's pediatrician, Dr. John W. Harding, "She kind of
gives you the
impression at various times that she sees, hears, and knows
who you are."
unspeaking (mute) and unmoving
(akinetic). A textbook on clinical neurology observes that
a person with
akinetic mutism has "sleep-waking cycles but, when
apparently awake, with
eyes open, lies mute. immobile and unresponsive." Akinetic
mutism is often
due to damage to the frontal lobes of the brain. The
disorder was the
subject of a front-page story in The New York Times on
Aug. 30, 1998. The
story concerned a 14-year-old girl in Worcester, Mass.
named Audrey Santo,
bedridden for 11 years, "inert and unspeaking, the legacy
of an accidental
fall into a backyard swimming pool" in 1987. "She has had a
steady stream of
visitors to her home," according to the Times, "including
priests and some
people who claim that they were miraculously healed by
her." According to
Audrey's pediatrician, Dr. John W. Harding, "She kind of
gives you the
impression at various times that she sees, hears, and knows
who you are."
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