Dr. Tononi is now collaborating with Dr. Steven Laureys of the University of Liège in Belgium to test his theory on people in persistent vegetative states.

如今，托诺博士和来自比利时的列日大学的史蒂文·洛雷（Steven Laureys）教授正协同合作，在那些长期处于植物人状态的病人上验证他的理论。

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The prognosis of diffuse axonal injury is generally poor for higher grades, with high morbidity and mortality, often with death or persistent vegetative states.

级别较重的弥漫性轴索损伤预后差，有较高的发病率及死亡率，常导致死亡或持续性植物状态。

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Disorders of consciousness come in shades of gray, from severely impaired "vegetative states" to the perplexing "minimally conscious state" in which people slip into and out of awareness.

意识障碍仍处于灰色地带，从受损严重的“植物人”到令人费解的“最小意识状态”，即病人能悄悄进入或溜出意识状态。

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"Some people in vegetative states respond on a metabolic level, but cannot respond in a way that people can see, " Shalef said.

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While the drug industry has tested dozens of compounds to treat the acute phases of stroke and brain trauma, only a few medicines for lifting patients out of vegetative states have been brought into large-scale trials.

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