title: Extending communication for patients with disorders of consciousness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The difficulty of distinguishing disorders of consciousness from certain disorders of communication leads to the possibility of false diagnosis. Our aim is to communicate with patients with disorders of consciousness through asking them to answer questions with "yes/no" by performing mental imagery tasks using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
  
  
  METHODS
  A 1.5 T fMRI study with 5 patients and a control group is presented. Speech comprehension, mental imagery, and question-answer tests were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The imagery task of mental calculation produced equally distinct activation patterns when compared to navigation and motor imagery in controls. For controls, we could infer answers to questions based on imagery activations. Two patients produced activations in similar areas to controls for certain imagery tasks, however, no activations were observed for the question-answer task.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results from 2 patients provide independent support of similar work by others with 3 T fMRI, and demonstrate broader clinical utility for these tests at 1.5 T despite lower signal-to-noise ratio. Based on the control results, mental calculation adds a robust imagery task for use in future studies of this kind.
authors.affiliation: NeuroEngineering Lab, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Xingwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Levin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kuhlmann
authors.forename: Leigh A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Grayden
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vogrin
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crossley
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lourensz
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D062207:Brain-Computer Interfaces; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D003244:Consciousness Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated / Q000379:methods; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires