In the largest survey ever of the feelings and emotions of people with locked-in syndrome (LIS), 72 per cent communicated that they were happy with their lot, says Steven Laureys at the Coma Science Group at the University of Liège in Belgium.

He calls for a moratorium when new patients request euthanasia (in countries that allow it), until they stabilize, both physically and psychologically.

Those expressing unhappiness wanted more interaction and mobility in their community, more recreation and better recovery of speech. They also suffered more from anxiety than “happy” respondents. Laureys says that finding out these shortcomings is important, because they can all be rectified.

Looking further ahead, Laureys believes that improvements in technology-aided communication such as brain-computer interfaces and eye-tracking devices would make life more bearable.

Adrian Owen of the Center for Brain and Mind at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, said that the study challenges preconceptions about life in a lifeless body. “We cannot and should not presume to know what it must be like to be in one of these conditions, because many patients can find happiness in ways we simply cannot imagine.”