Imaging test reveals 'higher cognitive function in some brain injury patients'RSS Feed

A new brain imaging test could provide a window into the consciousness of patients with severe brain injury, according to a new study.

Research, published in the journal Brain, was conducted on a set of six patients, whose conditions varied from minimally conscious to normal cognitive function with severe motor impairment.

Their responses to a set of commands and questions were recorded while they were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI).

Some patients who could not communicate by way of gestures and voice were able to answer questions using mental imagery while others in similar conditions could not do the mental tests.

Moreover, some patients who retained the ability to communicate by way of gestures or voice were unable to perform the mental tests.

Dr Nicholas D Schiff, of Weill Cornell Medical College, said: "We have to abandon the idea that we can rely on a bedside exam in our assessment of some severe brain injuries. These results demonstrate that patients who show very limited responses at the bedside may have higher cognitive function revealed through fMRI."

This comes after Luke Griggs, spokesman for brain injury experts Headway, said that people must realise that traumatic brain injury can happen to anyone and they need to take care to avoid such an event.

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Posted by Paul Breen
 

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