X-Message-Number: 29698
From: "Basie" <>
Subject: Brain injury breakthrough
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2007 13:32:05 -0400

Brain injury breakthrough
01/08/2007 19:14  - (SA)


New York - After six years, experimental electrodes let brain-injured man 
speak and eat again, said a report.

A brain-damaged man who could communicate only with slight eye or thumb 
movements for six years can speak again, after stimulating electrodes were 
placed in his brain, researchers reported.

The 38-year-old also regained the ability to chew and swallow, which lets 
his attendants spoon-feed him rather than providing nourishment through a 
tube into his belly.

The man suffered brain injury during an assault and spent six years with 
only occasional signs of consciousness and no useful movement of his limbs.

In an experiment, researchers implanted electrodes in his brain for a 
procedure called deep brain stimulation, which is routinely done for 
Parkinson's disease and some other illnesses.

They turned the electrodes on and off over six months to test their effect, 
and report the results in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

'Minimally conscious state'

The man, who was not identified at the family's request, now has them turned 
on throughout the day.

Experts called the report exciting but cautioned that the approach must be 
tested in more people before its value can be known. The researchers have 
already begun a study of additional patients.

Before the electrodes were implanted the man was in what doctors call a 
"minimally conscious state."

That means he showed only occasional awareness of himself and the 
environment. In a coma or vegetative state, by contrast, patients show no 
outward signs of awareness.

There are no firm statistics on how many Americans are in a minimally 
conscious state, but one estimate suggests 112 000 to 280 000.

Doctors may try medications to improve their condition but no drugs have 
been firmly established as helpful.

'Severely disabled'

The man described in the Nature study speaks in a breathy but audible voice, 
said Dr Joseph Giacino, a co-lead author. He does not initiate conversations 
but can reply to others, typically with one to three words, said Giacino, of 
the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, New Jersey.

Several weeks ago he recited the first half of the Pledge of Allegiance 
without assistance, Giacino said.

Americans place a hand on their heart and pledge allegiance to the US flag 
routinely at school and political meetings, beginning in elementary school.

The man also recovered some movement. He can demonstrate motions such as 
brushing his teeth, said study lead author Dr Nicholas Schiff of Weill 
Cornell Medical College in New York. He can't actually carry out that task 
because the tendons in his arms contracted after years of immobility.

"He is still totally dependent and severely disabled," Schiff said.

But the treatment has helped him, the man's mother said in a statement. 
"Now, my son can eat, express himself and let us know if he is in pain. He 
enjoys a quality of life we never thought possible," she said.

Typical outcome

Dr James Bernat, a professor of neurology at Dartmouth Medical School who 
didn't participate in the new work, called the Nature report exciting and 
important.

Further study is needed to shed light on how many patients would respond and 
how to identify the minimally conscious patients with the best chance of 
being helped, he said.

He noted that a similar treatment did not help Terri Schiavo, the Florida 
woman in a vegetative state whose care triggered national controversy before 
her death in 2005. That's the typical outcome for electrical brain 
stimulation in vegetative states, he said.

Dr Ross Zafonte of the University of Pittsburgh, who also was familiar with 
the study results, agreed that "we need to know more" and said the approach 
is "very interesting and holds great promise."

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=29698