Electrophysiological correlates of behavioural changes in vigilance in vegetative state and minimally conscious state.

ABSTRACT: The existence of normal sleep in patients in a vegetative state is still a matter of debate. Previous electrophysiological sleep studies in patients with disorders of consciousness did not differentiate patients in a vegetative state from patients in a minimally conscious state. Using high-density electroencephalographic sleep recordings, 11 patients with disorders of consciousness (six in a minimally conscious state, five in a vegetative state) were studied to correlate the electrophysiological changes associated with sleep to behavioural changes in vigilance (sustained eye closure and muscle inactivity). All minimally conscious patients showed clear electroencephalographic changes associated with decreases in behavioural vigilance. In the five minimally conscious patients showing sustain

SUBMITTER: Landsness E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3155704 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature