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The Minimally Conscious State is a condition of severely altered consciousness, where there is minimal evidence of any form of awareness. Doctors are trying to draw up medical definitions of the condition - and that of similar states - such as vegetative state and locked-in syndrome, amid ethical and legal debates.

The condition may arise when someone has gone through a coma into what is known as a vegetative state, where they are "awake" but unaware.

Sources: Headway, Patient UK, NHS Choices