title: Measuring consciousness in severely damaged brains.
abstract: Significant advances have been made in the behavioral assessment and clinical management of disorders of consciousness (DOC). In addition, functional neuroimaging paradigms are now available to help assess consciousness levels in this challenging patient population. The success of these neuroimaging approaches as diagnostic markers is, however, intrinsically linked to understanding the relationships between consciousness and the brain. In this context, a combined theoretical approach to neuroimaging studies is needed. The promise of such theoretically based markers is illustrated by recent findings that used a perturbational approach to assess the levels of consciousness. Further research on the contents of consciousness in DOC is also needed.
authors.affiliation: Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Center and Neurology Department, University of Liege, and University Hospital of Liege, 4000 Liege, Belgium; email: ogosseries@ulg.ac.be , dihaibo@yahoo.com.cn , steven.laureys@ulg.ac.be , mboly@ulg.ac.be.
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gosseries
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Di
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Laureys
authors.forename: Mélanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boly
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003128:Coma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003243:Consciousness; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: clinical assessment; minimally conscious state; neural correlates of consciousness; neuroimaging; vegetative state