Neuroscience
A curious case report discussed in today's New York Times:
Man Regains Speech After Brain Stimulation
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: August 1, 2007
A 38-year-old man who spent more than five years in a mute, barely conscious state as a result of a severe head injury is now communicating regularly with family members and recovering his ability to move after having his brain stimulated with pulses of electric current, neuroscientists are reporting.
[snip]
The new report, which appears in the journal Nature, provides the first rigorous evidence that any procedure can initiate and sustain recovery in such a severely disabled person, years after the injury occurred. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 Americans subsist in states of partial consciousness, and most are written off as beyond help.
Doctors said it was not clear how many such patients would benefit from the treatment, in which two wire electrodes are implanted deep in the brain. The procedure also raises sticky ethical questions about operating on patients who cannot give their consent, they said.
“We really see this as a first step, but it should open doors that have not been open before for patients like this,” said Joseph T. Giacino, associate director of neuropsychology at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, in Edison. Dr. Giacino performed the study with doctors from the Weill Cornell Medical College and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
[ ... Read the full report ... ]
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Deep Brain Stimulation (dbs)
This looks like an interesting article that I've added to my list of pubs to read: Schiff ND & Fins JJ. Deep brain stimulation and cognition: moving from animal to patient. Current Opinions in Neurology. 2007 Dec; 20(6): 638-642. Department of Neurology...
- The Insula Is Making Headlines!
From a report in The New York Times about the neuroscience of smoking: Scientists Tie Part of Brain to Urge to Smoke By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: January 25, 2007 [snip] The insula, for years a wallflower of brain anatomy, has emerged...
- Unconsciousness
From tomorrow's Times, a feature article about the different states of unconsciousness and the different etiologies that may cause them to occur: Inside the Injured Brain, Many Kinds of Awareness The New York Times By BENEDICT CAREY Published: April...
- Alternative To Deep-brain Stimulation In Parkinson Disease?
From Reuters:Brain Surface Stimulation May Ease Parkinson's Mon Jan 3, 2005 06:22 PM GMT By Anne Harding NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Electrical stimulation of regions deep in the brain has become fairly common in recent years for treating Parkinson's...
- Brain Injury: Acute Management With Steroids
Research reported in the new issue of Lancet about steroid treatment in the acute management of brain injury is being reported in a number of newspapers. Here is the report in Newsday:Study: Steroids Useless for Head Trauma By EMMA ROSS ...
Neuroscience
Deep Brain Stimulation
A curious case report discussed in today's New York Times:
Man Regains Speech After Brain Stimulation
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: August 1, 2007
A 38-year-old man who spent more than five years in a mute, barely conscious state as a result of a severe head injury is now communicating regularly with family members and recovering his ability to move after having his brain stimulated with pulses of electric current, neuroscientists are reporting.
[snip]
The new report, which appears in the journal Nature, provides the first rigorous evidence that any procedure can initiate and sustain recovery in such a severely disabled person, years after the injury occurred. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 Americans subsist in states of partial consciousness, and most are written off as beyond help.
Doctors said it was not clear how many such patients would benefit from the treatment, in which two wire electrodes are implanted deep in the brain. The procedure also raises sticky ethical questions about operating on patients who cannot give their consent, they said.
“We really see this as a first step, but it should open doors that have not been open before for patients like this,” said Joseph T. Giacino, associate director of neuropsychology at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute, in Edison. Dr. Giacino performed the study with doctors from the Weill Cornell Medical College and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
[ ... Read the full report ... ]
- Neuropsychology Abstract Of The Day: Deep Brain Stimulation (dbs)
This looks like an interesting article that I've added to my list of pubs to read: Schiff ND & Fins JJ. Deep brain stimulation and cognition: moving from animal to patient. Current Opinions in Neurology. 2007 Dec; 20(6): 638-642. Department of Neurology...
- The Insula Is Making Headlines!
From a report in The New York Times about the neuroscience of smoking: Scientists Tie Part of Brain to Urge to Smoke By BENEDICT CAREY The New York Times Published: January 25, 2007 [snip] The insula, for years a wallflower of brain anatomy, has emerged...
- Unconsciousness
From tomorrow's Times, a feature article about the different states of unconsciousness and the different etiologies that may cause them to occur: Inside the Injured Brain, Many Kinds of Awareness The New York Times By BENEDICT CAREY Published: April...
- Alternative To Deep-brain Stimulation In Parkinson Disease?
From Reuters:Brain Surface Stimulation May Ease Parkinson's Mon Jan 3, 2005 06:22 PM GMT By Anne Harding NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Electrical stimulation of regions deep in the brain has become fairly common in recent years for treating Parkinson's...
- Brain Injury: Acute Management With Steroids
Research reported in the new issue of Lancet about steroid treatment in the acute management of brain injury is being reported in a number of newspapers. Here is the report in Newsday:Study: Steroids Useless for Head Trauma By EMMA ROSS ...