What would it be like to be trapped in your own body? Locked-in syndrome is a condition where a patient is fully aware and conscious, but almost completely paralyzed. They can’t speak or communicate. For many, it's a nightmare.
"This is worse than solitary confinement, because in solitary confinement you can at least move and exercise, move your body about. So, in some sense, it is like living hell," says neuroscientist Christof Koch.
Koch is president and chief scientific officer of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle. He researches the nature of consciousness and where it comes from in the brain. Koch tells Gabriel Spitzer how locked-in patients reveal what it means to be conscious - to be human - when you can’t fully interact with the world.
