Advertisement
Letter to the Editor| Volume 9, ISSUE 6, P940-941, November 2016

Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Thalamic Stimulation in Disorders of Consciousness after Severe Brain Injury: A First-in-Man Report

  • Martin M. Monti
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author. Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.Fax: +13102065895
    Affiliations
    Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Brain Injury Research Center (BIRC), Department of Neurosurgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Search for articles by this author
  • Caroline Schnakers
    Affiliations
    Brain Injury Research Center (BIRC), Department of Neurosurgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Search for articles by this author
  • Alexander S. Korb
    Affiliations
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Search for articles by this author
  • Alexander Bystritsky
    Affiliations
    Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Search for articles by this author
  • Paul M. Vespa
    Affiliations
    Brain Injury Research Center (BIRC), Department of Neurosurgery, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
    Search for articles by this author
Published:July 22, 2016DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2016.07.008
Non-Invasive Ultrasonic Thalamic Stimulation in Disorders of Consciousness after Severe Brain Injury: A First-in-Man Report
Previous ArticleNeuroprotective Effect of Electric Conduction Treatment on Hippocampus Cell Apoptosis in KA Induced Acute Temporal Lobe Epileptic Rats
Next ArticleLateralisation of the Vestibular Cortex Is More Pronounced in Left-Handers
      Modern intensive care medicine has greatly increased the rates of survival after severe brain injury (BI). Nonetheless, a number of patients fail to fully recover from coma, and awaken to a disorder of consciousness (DOC) such as the vegetative state (VS) or the minimally conscious state (MCS) [
      • Monti M.M.
      • Laureys S.
      • Owen A.M.
      The vegetative state.
      Br Med J. 2000; 341: c3765
      ]. In these conditions, which can be transient or last indefinitely, patients can lose virtually all autonomy and have almost no treatment options [
      • Monti M.M.
      • Laureys S.
      • Owen A.M.
      The vegetative state.
      Br Med J. 2000; 341: c3765
      ,
      • Giacino J.T.
      • Whyte J.
      • Bagiella E.
      • Kalmar K.
      • Childs N.
      • Khademi A.
      • et al.
      Placebo-controlled trial of amantadine for severe traumatic brain injury.
      N Engl J Med. 2012; 366: 819-826
      ]. In addition, these conditions place great emotional and financial strain on families, lead to increased burn-out rates among care-takers, impose financial stress on medical structures and public finances due to the costs of prolonged intensive care, and raise difficult legal and ethical questions [
      • Monti M.M.
      • Sannita W.G.
      Brain function and responsiveness in disorders of consciousness.
      Springer International Publishing, Switzerland2016
      ].
      To read this article in full you will need to make a payment

      Purchase one-time access:

      Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online access
      One-time access price info
      • For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
      • For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'

      Subscribe:

      Subscribe to Brain Stimulation: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation
      Already a print subscriber? Claim online access
      Already an online subscriber? Sign in
      Register: Create an account
      Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect

      References

        • Monti M.M.
        • Laureys S.
        • Owen A.M.
        The vegetative state.
        Br Med J. 2000; 341: c3765
        View in Article
        • Giacino J.T.
        • Whyte J.
        • Bagiella E.
        • Kalmar K.
        • Childs N.
        • Khademi A.
        • et al.
        Placebo-controlled trial of amantadine for severe traumatic brain injury.
        N Engl J Med. 2012; 366: 819-826
        View in Article
        • Monti M.M.
        • Sannita W.G.
        Brain function and responsiveness in disorders of consciousness.
        Springer International Publishing, Switzerland2016
        View in Article
        • Schiff N.D.
        Recovery of consciousness after brain injury: a mesocircuit hypothesis.
        Trends Neurosci. 2010; 33: 1-9
        View in Article
        • Schiff N.D.
        • Giacino J.T.
        • Kalmar K.
        • Victor J.D.
        • Baker K.
        • Gerber M.
        • et al.
        Behavioural improvements with thalamic stimulation after severe traumatic brain injury.
        Nature. 2007; 448: 600-603
        View in Article
        • Thibaut A.
        • Bruno M.A.
        • Ledoux D.
        • Demertzi A.
        • Laureys S.
        tDCS in patients with disorders of consciousness Sham-controlled randomized double-blind study.
        Neurology. 2014; 82: 1112-1118
        View in Article
        • Yoo S.S.
        • Kim H.
        • Min B.K.
        • Franck S.P.
        Transcranial focused ultrasound to the thalamus alters anesthesia time in rats.
        Neuroreport. 2011; 22: 783
        View in Article
        • Bystritsky A.
        • Korb A.S.
        • Douglas P.K.
        • Cohen M.S.
        • Melega W.P.
        • Mulgaonkar A.P.
        • et al.
        A review of low-intensity focused ultrasound pulsation.
        Brain Stimul. 2011; 4: 125-136
        View in Article
        • Legon W.
        • Sato T.F.
        • Opitz A.
        • Mueller J.
        • Barbour A.
        • Williams A.
        • et al.
        Transcranial focused ultrasound modulates the activity of primary somatosensory cortex in humans.
        Nat Neurosci. 2014; 17: 322-329
        View in Article
        • Giacino J.T.
        • Kalmar K.
        • Whyte J.
        The JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised: measurement characteristics and diagnostic utility.
        Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2004; 85: 2020-2029
        View in Article

      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: July 22, 2016
      Received: July 7, 2016

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2016.07.008

      Copyright

      © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

      ScienceDirect

      Access this article on ScienceDirect
      We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content. To update your cookie settings, please visit the for this site.
      Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. except certain content provided by third parties. The content on this site is intended for healthcare professionals.


      RELX