Researchers find evidence of ‘hidden consciousness’ days after brain injury

[Natural News]: The thin line between life and death as well as the definition of “brain dead” has long puzzled neuroscientists and even sparked debates, lawsuits and media frenzies. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, however, has found neural hints of a “hidden consciousness” in patients who went on to make full recoveries from traumatic brain injuries.

After taking a closer look at electroencephalography (EEG) data, researchers at Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital found that nearly one in seven brain-injured ICU patients show evidence of a hidden consciousness just days after their injury. According to the researchers, patients that exhibited these signs were more likely to recover.

“Though our study was small, it suggests that EEG–a tool that’s readily available at the patient’s bedside in the ICU in almost any hospital across the globe–has the potential to completely change how we manage patients with acute brain injury,” says lead author Jan Claassen, an associate professor of neurology at Columbia University‘s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons who also serves as the director of the Neurological Intensive Care Unit at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

At the moment, there is still no perfect way to predict an unconscious, brain-injured patient’s chances of recovery. However, as the study shows, there may be a relatively fast and easy way to find signs of hidden consciousness in unresponsive patients and weigh their chances of survival...<<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...