[huck von finn]

MHG, are you determined to make me post links? ;-)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3141058.stm

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/21/Columns/Crusade_is_blind_to_h.shtml

http://thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1066312840821&call_pageid=968867505381&col=969048872038

It's not just the frontal cortex. It's the major part of the whole shee-bang.

By the way, there's a lovely photo of a very young Terri in the BBC article.

[MHGinTN]

LOL! Thanx for going to the trouble of typing out that monsterous URL! I'll go do my homework now.

[texasbluebell]

I just had to post the photo from your link. It's not one I've seen before.

Terri in happier days.

[SwordofTruth]

From the Crusade is blind to hard facts of medicine article:

"I don't think it is widely appreciated just how damaged her brain is," said Walker, an internist, who has followed the case closely by reading the public record. Schiavo's cerebral cortex, he said, is mostly gone. It was destroyed by the loss of oxygen she suffered when she had a heart attack 13 years ago. Once gone, the cortex cannot grow back, Walker said. The space it once occupied in Schiavo's skull is now filled with spinal fluid.

From the Fight over Florida woman's fate article:

Mrs Schiavo's brain scans have not been made public but Dr Walker has followed the case closely through media reports and court records. "The majority of her cerebral cortex - the part of the brain that thinks and feels - has been destroyed and replaced by fluid," he said.

It appears that Dr. Walker, who you got your information from that Terri Schiavo’s cerebal cortex is mostly gone, can only be guessing about this since he is relying totally on media reports and court records for his information.

[SwordofTruth]

At least a dozen prominent doctors have testified that Terri is NOT in a persistent vegetative state and can improve greatly with regular therapy.

Who is Dr. Walker compared to these prominent doctors? A professor? LOL!

[secretagent]

Mrs Schiavo's brain scans have not been made public but Dr Walker has followed the case closely through media reports and court records.

"The majority of her cerebral cortex - the part of the brain that thinks and feels - has been destroyed and replaced by fluid," he said.

Four points:

(1) I don't know for sure that Walker has seen Terri's brain scans - he might have inferred the damage from the pro-husband team's testimony.

(2) I don't know how much consiosness Terri might recover to, even with major cortex damage.

(3) The article didn't solicit the pro-Schindler medical team's opinion on the Walker claim.

(4) No reason given for keeping the brain scans private.