Researchers at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences - Marc Jeannerod have published a short text in the journal Current Biology that could change the game.
ScienceLovers - Researchers at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences - Marc Jeannerod have published a short text in the journal Current Biology that could change the game.
Indeed, they have managed to regain partially consciousness to an individual who was in a vegetative state for 15 years.
They achieved this feat by stimulating the vagus nerve, an important nerve that connects the brain to the abdomen. It has already been shown that stimulating this nerve can help people suffering from depression or epilepsy. It plays a role in the autonomous actions of the human body, such as heartbeats, digestion or breathing.
The individual selected was to be in a vegetative state for a long time, to increase the reliability of the result. Indeed, it has been determined that after a year without change in the state of consciousness, it is rather rare that an individual in a vegetative state "wakes up". After 15 years in such a state, let's say that the chances that the chosen individual has woken up by himself, and not by stimulation of the vagus nerve, are very low.
An electrode was implanted in the neck of the individual, close to the carotid artery. After a month of stimulation of the vagus nerve with a current of about a milliampere, the patient began to follow an object of the eyes and was able to turn his head when asked. According to the principal author Angela Sirigu reported in Le Monde, he also shed a tear while listening to his favorite music.
Electroencephalograms also revealed a "minimal" state of consciousness, which is a check mark above vegetative.
But the questions are just beginning. Does this improvement stop once the electrical stimulation is stopped? If it is possible to restore a state of consciousness, what does it mean for all these people that we have "disconnected"? Will one day be able to communicate with people who have already been immersed in a state deemed "irreversible"?
