Neurology: An awakening
Neuroscientists and engineers are developing ways to help patients overcome paralysis and stroke. But what about mental function itself? Can medical intervention restore consciousness? Nature runs a story on thalamic stimulation after severe stroke. Could this method be applied to help patients in coma or vegetative state regain their mental life? Brain activity revived – […]
Neuroscientists and engineers are developing ways to help patients overcome paralysis and stroke. But what about mental function itself? Can medical intervention restore consciousness?
Nature runs a story on thalamic stimulation after severe stroke. Could this method be applied to help patients in coma or vegetative state regain their mental life?
Brain activity revived – Nature Editorial
At present there is no reliable way of enhancing recovery from extended loss of consciousness in patients with traumatic brain injury. But recent evidence suggesting that a level of cerebral activity is preserved in some minimally conscious patients has raised interest in the topic. In a single subject study, Schiff et al. show that bilateral deep brain stimulation in the thalamus in a minimally conscious state following brain injury can increase behavioural responsiveness and function. The observations, made six years after the injury, challenge current thinking on the management of patients with severe brain injury.
News: Implant boosts activity in injured brain – Deep-brain stimulation offers hope for minimally conscious patients.
Neurology: An awakening – Neuroscientists and engineers are developing ways to help patients overcome paralysis and stroke. But what about mental function itself? Can medical intervention restore consciousness?
Letter: Behavioural improvements with thalamic stimulation after severe traumatic brain injury
Brain Stimulation and “Awakenings”
It is my hypothesis that all tissues rely on DHEA for optimal function, especially the brain. Direct effects of DHEA on the brain are numerous and the natural decline of DHEA of old age directly parallels the loss of brain function.
The recent report of brain stimulation and “awakenings” involved stimulation of the thalamus. I suggest stimulation of the thalamus that produced an improvement in brain function is due to stimulation of DHEA. The thalamus is a center high in prolactin-releasing peptide, which has been shown to stimulate “awakenings” (Neuroscience 2002; 114: 229-38). Prolactin has been shown to specifically stimulate DHEA production. It has also been reported that DHEAS, the precursor of DHEA, “improves cognitive and behavioral deficits after mild traumatic brain injury” (Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2007 July 30; Milman, et al., epub ahead of print).
I suggest that the vegetative state may result from phenomena that cause reductions in DHEA.
James Michael Howard
Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S.A.
I have a six year old daughter with a diagnosis of pdd nos. I want to find out if anybody in nw arkansas offers spect imaging and or fmri.