Active clinical trials for "Consciousness Disorders"

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the occurrence of Gamma entrainment and optimize the acousto-optic stimulation parameters to induce it in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC), to explore the prognostic value of gamma entrainment in patients with DOC, and to clarify the effect of gamma entrainment on the recovery of awareness in DOC patients. This study is divided into three parts. The first and third parts are prospective cohort studies, the second part is a randomized cross control study. We recruit DOC patients, including vegetative state/unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (VS/UWS) or minimally conscious state (MCS). The patients receive sound and light stimulation in the Gamma band, and the changes of EEG are observed simultaneously to explore the occurrence of Gamma entrainment. Meanwhile, the changes of clinical behavior of patients before and after stimulation are evaluated.

Previous studies showed the excitatory effect of cerebellar transcranial magnetic stimulation(TMS) on motor cortex.Investigator evaluate the effects of bilateral cerebellar TMS on Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores in patients with disorders of consciousness(DOC) in a randomized, double-blinded, sham-controlled, crossover experimental design.

Disorders of consciousness (DOC) refers to the persistent loss of consciousness after 28 days in patients with brain injury caused by trauma, stroke, or hypoxia. It includes coma, vegetative state, and minimally conscious state. At present, there is no effective treatment for DOC. Only one RCT study of amantadine has proved that it may be effective for the treatment of DOC. In recent years, more evidence has shown that neuromodulation technology is beneficial to the recovery of DOC. Cervical spinal cord stimulation surgery is a new treatment method for patients with DOC. Electrodes are implanted in the high cervical spinal cord C2-C5. By adjusting different electrical stimulation parameters, it has a wake-promoting effect. In this study, patients were selected into the spinal cord stimulation group and the conventional treatment group according to the wishes of their families. The patients in the spinal cord stimulation group were given 21 days of cervical spinal cord stimulation treatment on the basis of conventional brain rehabilitation. Patients were followed up routinely and completed designated examinations at 12 months to determine the safety and efficacy of cervical spinal cord stimulation therapy.

Phase 1 of the STIMPACT trial is an open label,dose-escalation,safety study of intravenous (IV) methylphenidate (MPH) therapy in patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) caused by severe brain injuries. To be classified as having a DoC, a patient must be in a coma, vegetative state (VS), or minimally conscious state (MCS), as determined by behavioral assessment using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). Patients with DoC admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) will be eligible for the study. A total of 10 patients with DoC will be enrolled in the Phase 1 study. Patients will receive escalating daily doses of IV MPH starting at 0.5 mg/kg, increasing stepwise to 1.0mg/kg and 2.0 mg/kg unless an adverse event (AE) necessitates dose de-escalation or a serious adverse event (SAE) necessitates that the patient stop participation in the study. Pharmacokinetics will be evaluated in selected patients with indwelling venous catheters or arterial catheters via serial serum measurements of MPH at each dose. The pharmacodynamic properties of IV MPH at each dose will be assessed by comparison of pre-versus post-dose EEG-based measures. The pharmacodynamic properties of the maximum tolerated dose will also be assessed by comparison of pre-versus post-dose resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) connectivity measures. Finally, we will test the association between structural connectivity of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a dopaminergic brainstem nucleus that is believed to mediate MPH activation of the cerebral cortex, and EEG and rs-fMRI pharmacodynamic measures.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a musical interventionand non-invasive brain stimulation in neurological patients. The main questions it aims to answer are: to evaluate the residual neuroplastic processes in DOC state related to music exposure to determine the putative modulation of the aforementioned processes and the clinical outcome of DOC patients by non-pharmacological strategies, i.e., electric (tDCS) and music stimulation to evaluate the impact of this intervention on caregiver's burden and psychological distress. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three different music-listening intervention groups. Primary outcomes will be clinical, that is based on the neurologist's observations of clinical improvement, and neurophysiological, collected pre-intervention, post-intervention and post-placebo.

Non-invasive brain stimulations techniques have recently shown promising results in patients with disorders of consciousness. Notably, a case reported improvement of level of consciousness using transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation in a patient in unresponsive wakefulness syndrome. Here we aim to assess the effects of transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation on post-coma patients with disorders of consciousness in a first randomized controlled trial. To measure these effects, behavioral (Coma recovery scale revised - CRS-R -primary outcome) and neuro-electrophysiological (electroencephalography - EEG - secondary outcome) data will be recorded in severely brain-injured patients with DOC.

To investigate the effect of high definition-transcranial alternating current stimulation(HD-tACS) on consciousness promotion in patients with chronic consciousness disorders and the underlying neural mechanism by EEG.

Background: Patients who survive severe brain injury may develop chronic disorders of consciousness (DoC). Treating these patients to improve recovery is extremely challenging because of scarce and inefficient therapeutical options. Among pharmacological treatments, apomorphine, a potent direct dopamine agonist, has exhibited promising behavioral effects, but its true efficacy and its mechanism remains unknown. This randomized controlled study aims to verify the effects of apomorphine subcutaneous infusion in patients with disorders of consciousness and investigate the neural networks targeted by this treatment. Methods/design: The double-blind randomized controlled trial will include 48 patients: 24 patients will be randomly assigned to the apomorphine and 24 to the placebo group. Investigators and the patients will be unaware of the nature of the treatment rendered. Primary outcome will be determined as behavioral response to treatment as measured by changes of diagnosis using the Coma Recovery Scale - Revised (CRS-R), while secondary outcome measures will include the Nociception Coma Scale - Revised (NCS-R), Disability Rating Scale (DRS), Wessex Head Injury Matrix (WHIM), circadian rhythm using actimetry, electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The Glasgow Outcome Scale - Extended (GOS-E) and a phone-adapted version of the CRS-R will be used for long-term follow-up. Statistical analyses will focus on the detection of changes induced by apomorphine treatment at the individual level (comparing data before and after treatment) and at the group level (comparing responders with non-responders). Response to treatment will be measured at four different levels: 1. behavioral response (CRS-R, NCS-R, DRS, WHIM, GOS-E, phone CRS-R), 2. brain metabolism (PET), 3. network connectivity (resting-state fMRI, clinical EEG and high-density EEG) and 4. Circadian rhythm changes (actimetry, body temperature, 24h-EEG). Discussion: Apomorphine is a promising and safe strategy for the treatment of DoC but efficacy, profile of the responding population and underlying mechanism remain to be determined. This trial will provide unprecedented data that will allow to investigate the response to apomorphine using multimodal methods and shed new light on the brain networks targeted by this drug in terms of behavioral response, functional connectivity and metabolism.

Background: The evaluation and treatment of disorders of consciousness(DOC) is a challenging undertaking. Now many neuroimaging techniques were used to detect the level of consciousness and electroencephagram(EEG) was widely used because of its high temporal resolution. Music would be an effective for DOC, due to its highly arousal value. Preferred music was near to persons, so that it would excite more range of cortical and increase the functional connectivity between cortices. Methods: The exploratory study included 15 health controls and 30 DOC, with 15 minimally conscious state(MCS) and 15 vegetative state(VS). After 5 minutes baseline silence, they listened to relaxing music(RM), preferred music(PM) and amplitude modulated sound(AMS), with 5 minutes baseline silence in the end, meanwhile EEG recorded their cortical activity. Each music was appropriately 5 minutes and separated by 3 minutes washout. Discussion: The study would verify the effect of preferred music to the functional connectivity of DOC. Music would excite the networks related to consciousness by cross-modal.

The investigators will run a Randomized Clinical Trial with 30 patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC), with intravenous subanesthetic doses of ketamine. Patients will simultaneously undergo TMS-EEG. The piloting will be done on 3 patients, with EEG only.