A patient with severe brain damage who is in a state of partial awakening rather than true consciousness. Vegetative life (from Latin vegetatio – excitement, from Latin vegetativus – vegetative) – the absence of the ability to spontaneous mental activity (decortication) due to extensive damage or dysfunction of the cerebral hemispheres with the preservation of the activity of the diencephalic area and the brainstem, which preserve vegetative and motor reflexes. After four weeks of vegetative state, the patient is classified as being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). This diagnosis is classified as a persistent vegetative state after one month of non-traumatic traumatic brain injury or one year after traumatic traumatic trauma.