Researchers at GWU are reporting that they've discovered the human consciousness on-off switch, deep within the brain. When this specific region of the brain, called the claustrum, is electrically stimulated, consciousness appears to turn off completely. When the stimulation is removed, consciousness returns. This could have massive repercussions for people currently in a minimally conscious state (i.e. a coma), and for deciding once and for all which organisms are actually conscious. Are monkeys conscious? Cats and dogs? A fetus?