Neuroscience & Neurology
Waking the Unconscious
The state of consciousness continue to puzzles neuroscientists worldwide. However, a team of neurologists and neurosurgeons have succeeded in increasing conscious control in an individual who had been in a minimally conscious state (MCS) for over six years.
A 38 year old male had suffered severe brain damage, slipped into in a deep coma, and a year after receded into a minimally conscious state. The patient was non verbal, was fed and kept alive through tubes in a long term care facility. Six years later, despite the large amount of damage to the cortex, imaging results showed that some parts of the brain were still functioning. This led a team of neurosurgeons to believe that they would be able to improve the patient’s state through manual stimulation of those undamaged parts of his brain. Upon examination at the time of enrollment, the patient was able to move his eyes sideways (but not up and down), and the rest of his body was out of conscious control.
The results were dramatic — within 48 hours post surgery the patient was able to respond to noise stimuli by turning his head towards the source of the voice. Further, he was able to keep his eyes open for a sustained period of time on his own, as well as move his limbs. Within 50 days with continued stimulation, he was able to bring a cup to his mouth, swallow food, thus becoming independent of his feeding tube.
The patient continued to improve after the experimental phase was over, and eventually was able to put together up to six words to express himself vocally. The cost of care for this patient has since reduced significantly, since he is no longer on a feeding tube and can feed himself manually three times a day.
This report is important for two reasons. For one, it challenges current practice of giving up on treating patients that are in a minimally conscious state, and simply turning them over to long term care facilities. Further, it increases the hope that stimulating certain regions after severe brain damage can still salvage some functional activity with potential for significant improvement.
Reference
Schiff N. D. et al. Behavioural improvements with thalamic stimulation after severe traumatic brain injury. Nature 448, 600-603 (2 August 2007)
Related Articles
1 Comment
Trackbacks
- Jan 21, 2008 | Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival 33 | FitBuff.com's Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
- The Anti-Psychiatry Movement
- Vaccines - A Two-Edged Sword
- Should Doctors Have Guns?
- Extremist Muslim Doctors Do More Than Heal
- God And Religion: Is It All In Our Heads?
- Woman Comparable to Men in Domestic Violence: Stereotypes and their Consequences
- The Bipolar Trend
- Anti-Smoking Campaign Doesn't Mess Around
- The Science of Brain Freeze
- Are You Vegetarian? How Do You Get Enough Protein?
- The Implications of Implanted Chips
- Is War A Psychosis?
- The Biopsychosocial Model of Health & Illness
- Meditation for Troubled Minds: Can the Mind Heal the Mind?
- Unhinging from Theory: Autism and Opinions
- Mind-Body: We Want Evidence, Don't We?
- Encephalon, Thirty-Third Edition
- Acknowledging Vaccination Concerns
- Health Care and Politics II - The Democrats
- Usually It's Cheaper to Pay Than to Go To Court
- Sleeping on the Job - A Program Director’s Take on IOM Recommendations
- Work and Mental Health
- Why a Smartphone is a Dumb Idea
- Sometimes It’s Good to Be Cold - Therapeutic Hypothermia
- Recognizing the Man in the Mirror
- Brain Blogging, Forty-Second Edition
- Happiness is Contagious, If Not For a Fleeting Moment
- Look Me in the Eyes - From Eye Contact to “Fear Blindness”
- The Doctor Can’t See You Right Now, He’s Napping
- Suicide Rates Could Rise
- Gingko Study Proves Nothing
- Exercise to Keep Your Brain Healthy and Increase Cerebral Blood Flow
- Personal Health Records and Mental Health
- New Option for the Management of Acute Pain
- Depression and the Risk for Cardiovascular Events
- Beating the Biological Clock - Clinical Trials of Tasimelteon
- Ginkgo Biloba Ineffective for Preventing Dementia
- A Special Thanks - Remembering a Man Who Remembered No One
- Psychiatric Conditions and Alcohol Abuse in the College-Aged
- Drugs and Pharmacology, Twelfth Edition
- Hi Kas,
Yes, we surely have been plagiarized once again by detoxinabox.com. Fin...
- ...
- Hi Simes,
Thanks for bringing this to my attention. These thieves...
- Do you know you've been plagiarised at www.detoxinabox.com/blog/which-came-first...
- I found this an excellent post on a very professional blog, and have selected it...
- As a psychologist somewhat familiar with the sleep deprivation research, it stri...
- We can spread happiness by simply smiling at others. We make ourselves happy in ...
- The 6 months I was unemployed (having had a stressful- but not anxiety inducing-...
- Detractors can argue all they want. My now 15 year old was 4 months old and cryi...
- USC doctor Gerald Loeb and Jonathan Kellerman are guilty of implanting un-consen...
- try relaxation techniques. yoga, massage....anything. ^_^...
- I think we all have a place in society for helping people with mood disorders an...
- I've always had a hard time separating my work life from my home life. It took ...
- I have been on the Donor 's list for 17 years, never got a call. But I would sti...
- Very nice work. Thanks......
- Good Day,
I have been diagnosed with Essential Tremor and would like to recei...
- Widely available forms of MCT oil include nonhydrogenated coconut or palm oil, b...
- The only practical way to stop hospital staff and doctors from seeing records th...
- The point that there are cultural differences in individual and societal respons...
- Late 1980s I was under massive stress, blackmail froma hospital (investor) and l...
Brain Blogger's Historical Brain Illustrations









Sponsored Links
Neuroscience & Neurology
December 23, 2008 | 3 Comments | By Erin Falconer, MS
Look Me in the Eyes - From Eye Contact to “Fear Blindness”
More In Neuroscience & Neurology
- Are Boys Really More Hard-Wired for Math than Girls?
- School Bullies - Is the Amygdala to Blame?
- Reversing the Irreversible - Neuromotor Prostheses for Spinal Cord Injury
- Electrical Brain Stimulation Improves Hand Motor Skills
- My Amygdala Made Me Vote for McCain/Obama
Neuroscience & Neurology
Opinion
December 31, 2008 | 1 Comment | By Sajid Surve, DO
Why a Smartphone is a Dumb Idea
More In Opinion
- Suicide Rates Could Rise
- The Gift of Life - Part 3
- China’s Tainted Reputation
- HIPAA Doesn’t Exist For Doctors
- Some Funny Stories From the Trenches
Opinion
Psychiatry & Psychology
January 02, 2009 | 3 Comments | By Chadwick Royal, PhD, NCC, LPC, ACS
Work and Mental Health
More In Psychiatry & Psychology
- Recognizing the Man in the Mirror
- Psychiatric Conditions and Alcohol Abuse in the College-Aged
- Conditioned Response - An Alternative to Antidepressant Drugs?
- Pulling Your Hair Out - Complexities of Trichotillomania
- Are We Worshipping Celebrities or Heroes?


Leave a Reply