title: A P300-based cognitive assessment battery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is well established that some patients who are diagnosed as being in a vegetative state or a minimally conscious state show reliable signs of volition that may only be detected by measuring neural responses. A pertinent question is whether these patients are capable of higher cognitive processes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Here, we develop a series of EEG paradigms that probe several core aspects of cognition at the bedside without the need for motor responses and explore the sensitivity of this approach in a group of healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using analysis of ERPs alone, this method can determine with high reliability whether individual participants are able to attend a stimulus stream, maintain items in working memory, or solve complex grammatical reasoning problems.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We suggest that this approach could form the basis of a brain-based battery for assessing higher cognition in patients with severe motor impairments or disorders of consciousness.
authors.affiliation: The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.affiliation: The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cruse
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurosciences, The University of Cambridge Cambridge, UK.
authors.forename: Srivas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chennu
authors.affiliation: The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.affiliation: The Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London London, UK.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hampshire
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D018458:Persistent Vegetative State / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D000067716:Point-of-Care Testing; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; EEG; P300; cognitive assessment; reasoning; working memory