Brain Zap Can 'Wake' Nearly-Comatose Patients - East Idaho News
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Brain Zap Can ‘Wake’ Nearly-Comatose Patients

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GETTY 3314 Coma?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1393846582185wavebreakmedia/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Researchers in Belgium have found that mild electrical stimulation can temporarily rouse nearly-comatose patients, according to a study from the April issue of Neurology.

During the study, the patients, all of whom were either minimally conscious or in vegetative state, underwent mild electrical stimulation for 20 minutes at a time.

Researchers found that 15 of the minimally conscious patients responded to the stimulation by becoming more responsive and two were even able to communicate nonverbally with researchers. Those in a vegetative state did not show any reaction.

In a minimally conscious state a patient will exhibit minimal or occasional signs of awareness from following an image with their eyes to reaching for an object, but they can go weeks to months without responding to anything at all. There were 55 patients total in the study, 30 of which started out in a minimally conscious state.

Dr. Steven Laureys, co-author of the study and a neurologist and professor at the University of Liège in Belgium, said that the results were especially exciting because some of the patients who responded had been non-responsive for months to years.

“That is important there is some possibility of plasticity,” in the brain, Laureys told ABC News.

In spite of the findings, Laureys said it was not a “miracle treatment.” While some patients were more responsive, the results were temporary and Laureys said patients would still likely never fully “wake up” and be their former selves.

The results lasted for a few hours before the patients again became unresponsive.

Going forward, Laureys said they plan on studying why certain patients responded to the treatment and others didn’t, and if longer stimulation will mean a longer period of responsiveness.

“We’re trying to look at the brain damage and if we can predict when it would work and when it would not work,” said Laureys.

The patients ranged in age from 15 and 85 but the majority were between 20 to 50 years old. The reason for their incapacitation included traumatic brain injury and damage caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain among others.

Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio

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