A new research study gives hope that some patients who seem to be in a coma, or persistent vegetative state, may actually be aware of their surroundings and can communicate on a rudimentary level.

The even better news is that misdiagnosis of these patients, which studies suggest may be common, can be corrected by use of a simple, cheap and widely available brain wave test called the EEG, electroencephalogram.

The study was reported in the online edition of the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet.

Many patients who seem to be completely unaware of their surroundings after a brain injury do not show any response to this new kind of testing. But of the 16 patients tested in the new study, three patients did show a response, indicating that they had been misdiagnosed and should be reclassified as "minimally conscious."