this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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Hidden Consciousness Detected in 25% of Unresponsive Patients Tested (www.sciencealert.com)
submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/18838026

Up to one in four patients who are unresponsive after suffering serious brain injuries might actually still be conscious – indicating more patients may be aware of their surroundings than previously realized, new research suggests.

This state of 'hidden consciousness' is now officially known as cognitive motor dissociation (CMD), where cognitive (or thinking) abilities aren't connected to motor (or movement) abilities. Researchers have been looking into CMD for several years.

However, 62 percent of an additional 112 patients who were visibly responding to instructions at the bedside didn't exhibit the expected brain signals showing responsiveness – so the researchers suggest their methods still don't detect everyone with cognitive function.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Well that's kinda terrifying. Being "locked in" is one of the scarier things I can imagine, and it sounds like it might be a lot more common than we thought.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

Yeah, have been in the room with a comatose person. Some people are good at just dumping out a one-sided conversation, but not me. The inclusion of the percentage of people who were clearly responsive but whose brain scans didn't indicate the expected activity is really important to take note of though. Really does need more study to refine our understanding.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

This is very scary.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)

Someone send this to the Black Mirror crew for a new episode idea.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

right?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Metallica did it.