It’s been five years since a medical team at the University of California woke someone out of a coma. At the time, the researchers weren’t sure whether it was really their intervention that brought the patient back to life. After all, they were just low-intensity ultrasound waves that they had focused on the thalamus. But now the coup has succeeded two more times, so that coincidence is now out of the equation.
A chance success – or a real therapy option?
The thalamus is the brain’s traffic junction, so to speak, and in coma patients it shows little activity. In 2016, Professor Martin Monti came up with the idea of using a saucer-sized ultrasound device with his colleagues to specifically stimulate this area of the brain. The 25 year old patient woke up and his condition improved dramatically. Before he had given only minimal signs of consciousness, after the stimulation he was completely awake, understood questions and answered with a shake of the head or a nod.
Of course, the first thought arose that the patient might have returned from the coma at precisely this point, even without the treatment. However, his brain may have been particularly sensitive to this type of stimulation and the experiment could therefore not be repeated.
Two further spectacular successes point the way forward
Now Monti has announced two more similarly spectacular successes. In one case, a 56-year-old man who had been vegetating for 14 months after a stroke came to. After the first ultrasound treatment, he was able to grab a ball again, hold it and consciously let it fall again. He also recognized his family members from photos. The second session brought him so far that he could drink independently from a bottle and communicate with pen and paper.
In addition, a 50-year-old woman awoke who was even less conscious than the aforementioned patient. Cardiac arrest had put her into a coma two and a half years ago. Now she was able to identify everyday objects again, for example a comb and a pen. There were no side effects and the treatment itself only took 10 x 30 seconds.
Another person, a 58-year-old who had been comatose for more than five years after a car accident, unfortunately didn’t return. But the scientists are still satisfied with their success.
Those: newatlas.com
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