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Assessment and Communication for People with Disorders of Consciousness
07:37

Assessment and Communication for People with Disorders of Consciousness

Published on: August 1, 2017

Mismatch negativity to the patient's own name in chronic disorders of consciousness

Pengmin Qin1, Haibo Di, Xiaodan Yan

  • 1Laboratory for Higher Brain Functions, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China.

Neuroscience Letters
|October 22, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Detecting brain activity with the subject's own name (SON) can predict consciousness recovery in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). The presence of SON-evoked mismatch negativity (MMN) indicated a higher chance of improvement.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Disorders of Consciousness (DOC) present diagnostic challenges.
  • Mismatch Negativity (MMN) shows potential for predicting recovery.
  • Self-referential stimuli may elicit robust brain responses in DOC patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prognostic value of subject's own name-evoked MMN (SON-MMN) in patients with chronic DOC.
  • To assess the efficacy of SON as a stimulus for MMN detection in DOC.
  • To correlate SON-MMN presence with clinical recovery of consciousness.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 12 patients with chronic DOC (coma, VS, MCS) and 12 healthy controls were studied.
  • Subject's Own Name (SON) was used as a novel auditory stimulus to evoke MMN.
  • JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised was used for clinical diagnosis and follow-up.

Main Results:

  • SON-evoked MMN (SON-MMN) was detected in 7 out of 12 patients with DOC.
  • The presence of SON-MMN significantly correlated with recovery of consciousness.
  • Four of five patients with SON-MMN improved to minimally conscious state (MCS) within 3 months, while none without SON-MMN showed improvement.

Conclusions:

  • The subject's own name is an effective stimulus for evoking MMN in patients with DOC.
  • SON-MMN serves as a valuable prognostic marker for predicting consciousness recovery in DOC patients.
  • This finding offers a promising tool for improving diagnosis and management of DOC.

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