Title Can Salient Stimuli Enhance Responses in Disorders of Consciousness? A Systematic Review
Authors Magliacano A. , De Bellis F. , GALVAO CARMONA, ALEJANDRO, Estraneo A. , Trojano L.
External publication No
Means Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep
Scope Review
Nature Científica
JCR Quartile 1
SJR Quartile 1
JCR Impact 4.37600
SJR Impact 1.30100
Web https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85075604893&doi=10.1007%2fs11910-019-1018-8&partnerID=40&md5=df2e8b9a3fbfd1d8d98b2f65cbc51d86
Publication date 01/11/2019
ISI 000513918600006
Scopus Id 2-s2.0-85075604893
DOI 10.1007/s11910-019-1018-8
Abstract Purpose of Review: Diagnostic classification of patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) is based on clinician’s observation of volitional behaviours. However, patients’ caregivers often report higher levels of responsiveness with respect to those observed during the clinical assessment. Thus, increasing efforts have been aimed at comprehending the effects of self-referential and emotional stimuli on patients’ responsiveness. Here we systematically reviewed the original experimental studies that compared behavioural and electrophysiological responses with salient vs. neutral material in patients in vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome or in minimally conscious state. Recent Findings: Most of the reviewed studies showed that salient stimuli (i.e. patient’s own or familiar faces, patient’s own name, and familiar voices) seem to elicit a higher amount of behavioural or electrophysiological responses with respect to neutral pictures or sounds. Importantly, a quite high percentage of patients seem to respond to salient stimuli only. Summary: The present review could foster use of personally salient stimuli in assessing DoC. However, the low overall quality of evidence and some limitations in the general reviewing process might induce caution in transferring these suggestions into clinical practice. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Keywords causal attribution; clinical evaluation; consciousness disorder; disease association; emotionality; human; minimally conscious state; neuroimaging; outcome assessment; persistent vegetative state; qua
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