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Modern medical and psychological investigations into consciousness are based on psychological experiments (including, for example, the investigation of priming effects using subliminal stimuli), [81] and on case studies of alterations in consciousness produced by trauma, illness, or drugs. Broadly viewed, scientific approaches are based on two ...
A deficit in the level of consciousness suggests that both of the cerebral hemispheres or the reticular activating system have been injured. [4] A decreased level of consciousness correlates to increased morbidity (sickness) and mortality (death). [5] Thus it is a valuable measure of a patient's medical and neurological status.
Some define disorders of consciousness as any change from complete self-awareness to inhibited or absent self-awareness and arousal. This category generally includes minimally conscious state and persistent vegetative state , but sometimes also includes the less severe locked-in syndrome and more severe but rare chronic coma .
Because minimally conscious state is a relatively new criterion for diagnosis, there are very few functional imaging studies of patients with this condition. Preliminary data has shown that overall cerebral metabolism is less than in those with conscious awareness (20–40% of normal [3]) and is slightly higher but comparable to those in vegetative states.
A medical history, physical examination, and electrocardiogram (ECG) are the most effective ways to determine the underlying cause of syncope. [1] Guidelines from the American College of Emergency Physicians and American Heart Association recommend a syncope workup include a thorough medical history, physical exam with orthostatic vitals, and a ...
The Glasgow Coma Scale [1] (GCS) is a clinical scale used to reliably measure a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury. The GCS assesses a person based on their ability to perform eye movements, speak, and move their body. These three behaviours make up the three elements of the scale: eye, verbal, and motor.
In some emergency medical services protocols, "Alert" can be subdivided into a scale of 1 to 4, in which 1, 2, 3 and 4 correspond to certain attributes, such as time, person, place, and event. For example, a fully alert patient might be considered "alert and oriented x 4" if they could correctly identify the time, their name, their location ...
A man with brain damage and trapped in a coma-like state for six years was brought back to consciousness in 2003 by doctors who planted electrodes deep inside his brain. The method, called deep brain stimulation (DBS), successfully roused communication, complex movement and eating ability in the man with a traumatic brain injury.