Brain Scans, Experts and Democracy – Imagi(ni)ng the Persistent Vegetative State

Discussions about the centrality of the Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) within end-of-life policy controversies have a long tradition (e.g. Jennett, 2002). There is, however, a lack of scientific work dealing with the emergence of novel imaging technologies and the mobilization of such brain images within end-of-life policy controversies. Imaging technologies, like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, make it possible to show brain activity in persons in the PVS – a neurological condition of severe brain damage, wherein persons show signs of wakefulness without responsiveness (Laureys & Schiff, 2012). When such images enter public discourses, they are easily absorbed as facts or direct proofs. However, brain scans are not immediate evidences, but constructed artefacts used as rhetorical devices by scientists, policy makers, activists and others (Louise, 2012; Racine, Bar-Ilan, & Illes, 2005; Rose & Abi-Rached, 2014). Thus, brain scans represent a specific form of visual arguments or frames that contribute to the construction of specific narratives – in this case, narratives about how persons in a PVS should be treated or “governed”. As such, they reflect different values and beliefs of conflicting actors within the debate. Taking the cases of Italy and Germany as examples, it will be the aim of this paper to investigate the emergence of brain scans within end-of-life policy controversies: How and why do brain scans become meaningful within end-of-life policy controversies? By whom, from which perspective, and with what purpose are they mobilized? (How) Do brain images contribute to the intractability of end-of-life policy conflicts? Jennett, B. (2002). The vegetative state: medical facts, ethical and legal dilemmas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Laureys, S., & Schiff, N. D. (2012). Coma and consciousness: Paradigms (re)framed by neuroimaging. NeuroImage, 61(2), 478-491. Louise, W. (2012). Resisting the revelatory scanner? Critical engagements with fMRI in popular media. BioSocieties, 7(3), 245-272. Racine, E., Bar-Ilan, O., & Illes, J. (2005). fMRI in the public eye. [10.1038/nrn1609]. Nat Rev Neurosci, 6(2), 159-164. Rose, N., & Abi-Rached, J. (2014). Governing through the Brain: Neuropolitics, Neuroscience and Subjectivity. [doi:10.3167/ca.2014.320102]. The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology, 32(1), 3-23.