The person can make a general distinction between pain and comfort and seems to form a sense of comfort when they peacefully fall asleep.
Doctors use withdrawal from noxious or painful cues as a method for distinguishing between reflexes and voluntary motor actions. Withdrawal is a self-protective, survival reaction that may not reach the cortex. The brain stem and cerebellum are an intermediate part of human functioning that falls between the cortex and the spinal cord. Reactions to noxious stimuli are controlled by the intermediate part and are faster than cortical responses and are as automatic as reflexes.
The person is bedridden, rarely moves, the sounds they make are nonverbal and they must be fed through nasogastric feeds. This minimal ability to function is also observed in premature infants.