Scientists from Columbia University have developed a method of discovering hidden consciousness in patients with recent brain injuries and to predict their recovery opportunities. The main indicator of long recovery can be the typical waves of the brain related to sleep. The work was published in Nature Medicine (NM) magazine.
Previous neurologists used complex methods of the analysis of brain activities to determine whether patients could perceive the commands of doctors, even if they were not physically able to respond to them. However, these methods require resources and can give false negative results.
During the new study, the team led by Neurological Professor Jan Classes paid attention to sleep, as the sleeping mechanisms in many ways coincide with those responsible for consciousness.
"Sleep is easily registered and does not require active intervention of doctors, so we decided to study its connection with the restoration of consciousness," said Class.
Scientists have analyzed the nightly electrocumogalogs (eEs) of 226 patients in a coma and paid attention to the so-called Sigma Rhythms, the shortest outbursts of high frequency of the brain. These structures are an important marker for the Talamus and Peel interaction, which is necessary for consciousness.
It turned out that 76% of patients with discovered Siigma have shown signs of consciousness at the time of writing, and a year later, 41% were able to care for themselves only moderate disorders. Only 7% in the group of patients that have no such signals came to his senses a year later.
Although there is still no evidence that artificially sleeps improves the forecast, researchers suggest that creating a comfortable environment for sleeping in intensive therapy can help recover.
"The hospital environment is far from ideal for sleep, noise, constant alarms, research. "It is possible that the improvement of sleep conditions will help patients recover faster," Cleaner added.
Scientists have said that this method is only applicable to patients with recent brain injuries and is not universal yet. However, the discovered patterns will help doctors decide to decide who needs more in-depth studies and predict possible restoration.
Translation of: Euromedia24.com
