Three years ago Columbia University psychologist Joy Hirsch and neurologist NicholasSchiff of Cornell University's Weill Medical College teamed up to perform functional magnetic resonance imaging scans on two minimally conscious patients.
Dr. NicholasSchiff, of the Weill Cornell Medical Center, in New York, told CNN that the risk of misdiagnosis is increased because a patient's condition can change over a long period and the transition from VS to MS often takes place outside the time window of careful assessment.