I have a dear gentle cousin who has a PHD in Biophysics. He suffered several strokes and has many reduced function portions in his brain. After reading the article, I intend to contact his neurologist and have him put my cousin on Ambien to see if it could release the locked off portions of his brain. He can write quantum mechanics equations but he cannot explain what they mean, for example. He can write left handed (was right handed) but cannot read. Sometimes when I'm taking him to an appointment or the store, he just breaks out in German and we carry on a halting conversation (my three years of German was back in college, so my Deutsch isn't as fluid now), then just as suddenly he switches to English and confesses he cannot form the words to continue the conversation.
Please let us know how things go for him.
After reading about this, I started thinking along the same lines as you. I'd be interesting in hearing about your experiences with this "experiment". My father has suffered a seiries of strokes. Nothing paralyzing, but enough to make his left side numb and subject to shakes. He also had a brain hemorrage from all the coumadin(sp?) they gave him.
Brain damage is brain damage, I guess it shouldn't matter if the cause was external or internal. But then I guess it depends on the area damaged too. But he does take a sleeping pill, just not Ambien.