The scientists have likely gotten these new results because, even when a person is in a coma, "parts of the nervous system that are still functioning are capable of learning and capable of changing their activity patterns, " said Dr. Daniel Hanley, professor of neurology, neurosurgery and anesthesia at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who is not involved with Sharon's care.

CNN: Sharon brain results not proof he'll wake up

Poor sleeping patterns are both a symptom of bipolar disorder and can bring the illness on, so learning good sleep hygiene is especially important for young people at genetic risk for the disease.

CNN: Can a person 'discourage' bipolar disorder?

"From about 1990, a group in the U.S. came up with the idea of just treating it as a statistical problem -- more of a machine learning problem where you essentially ignore linguistics and just look for patterns in data, " he said.

CNN: 'Star Trek' translators reach for the final frontier