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Transauricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Electroencephalographic Assessment in Disorders of Consciousness
Published on: July 11, 2025
Neuroethics across the Disorders of Consciousness Care Continuum
Michael J Young1, Andrew Peterson2
1Division of Neurocritical Care, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract:
This review provides an ethical analysis of disorders of consciousness (DoC) along the care continuum, from preinjury to injury, acute care to subacute care and early rehabilitation, and finally transitioning to chronic rehabilitation and societal reintegration. We provide an actionable, chronological assessment of ethical issues related to DoC care. This expands upon established ethics literature, which focuses almost exclusively on the clinical encounter for DoC. Our goal is to broaden the aperture of ethical analysis to address how social and environmental conditions predispose some persons to brain injury, and how such conditions might also pose barriers to meaningful societal reintegration after recovery.
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