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People who suffer serious brain injuries or strokes often slip into comas. However some appear to wake up yet show no outward signs of being conscious of the world around them.

Recently medical advances have provoked new questions about the plight of people thought to be in this so-called Persistent Vegetative State.

A new scanning technology - the fMRI scan - is being used by researchers to detect signs of awareness that previously went unnoticed.

Christine Simpson is one such patient who has benefitted from the technology.

She suffered a stroke five years ago which left her unable to move. Doctors were initially convinced that she was in a profound state of unconsciousness, but her husband Colin was always convinced that she knew what was going on around her - a view that was then supported by an fMRI scan.

Colin spoke to Lucy Ash and described the very personal dilemma he faces after years of caring for his wife. He began by explaining how immediately after she had her stroke the doctors told him there was no hope of survival.