Active clinical trials for "Persistent Vegetative State"

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.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of animal-assisted occupational therapy on patient's consciousness, measured via the achievement of predefined, patient-specific goals. 30 patients in a minimally conscious state will be included in this trial with randomized, controlled cross-over design. Patients will be randomized and allocated to either study arm 1 or 2 with an allocation ratio 1/1. In study arm 1, patients (N=15) receive three weeks of two AAT sessions per week followed by three weeks of two control sessions (TAU) per week. In study arm 2, patients (N=15) receive three weeks of two control sessions (TAU) per week followed by three weeks of two AAT sessions per week. Each session lasts 30 minutes. Goal attainment and secondary outcomes will be measured before the study start (pre-measurement, t0), at the end of the first 3 weeks therapy (post-measurement I, t1), at the start of the second 3 weeks (pre-measurement II, t2) as well as at the study end (post-measurement II, t3).

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.

This research will test a closed-loop system using EEG-arousal measures (spectral entropy) to define the best moment of the day for application of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in patients in MCS This study aims at answering the following questions: Is tDCS applied during high vigilance states more effective in increasing the level of conscious awareness than low vigilance states in patients in minimally conscious state (MCS)? Is the EEG pattern (connectivity, complexity) different after application of active or sham tDCS at high vigilance or low vigilance states? Is there a difference in the profile of tDCS-responders as compared to non-responders with regards to etiology, clinical diagnosis (MCS+/MCS-), age, gender, time post-injury, functional outcome, structural and functional neuroimaging findings and EEG markers?

After a coma, one important challenge is the detection of awareness with patients with disorders of consciousness. For some patients, the only behavioral manifestation indicative of awareness is an appropriate emotional response. Studies show that the use of a particular conditioning - with delay - appears to be an objective solution to study the conscious perception of an emotion in none-communicating people. Until now, emotions of patients suffering disorder of consciousness (DOC) have been scarcely studied. It has been proved that some awakening patients have vegetative reactions following an emotional stimulus, but the investigator can't confirm whether or not the emotional experience of the patient is conscious. The investigator's main purpose is to study emotional reactions from patients suffering a disorder of consciousness. The investigator hypothesize that some patients have preserved reflexes reaction to the emotional stimuli while others could demonstrate a conscious emotional experience. In order to answer these questions, the study is designed to record in a single session: (i) physiological vegetative reactions (electrodermal, pupillary responses and heart rate) to emotional stimuli both in DOC patients and healthy controls; (ii) a neurophysiological marker of consciousness; and (iii) physiological parameters during a trace conditioning experiment using auditory stimuli with and without emotional valence. The investigator plan to include patients vegetative patients (n=15); minimally conscious patients (n=15); acquired brain injured patients without conscious disorder (n=15) and healthy participants (n=15).

The goal of this clinical trial is to explore the effect of FDA-approved antiseizure drugs in the brain connectivity patterns of severe acute brain injury patients with suppression of consciousness. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the antiseizure medication reduce the functional connectivity of seizure networks, as identified by resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI), within this specific target population? What is the prevalence of seizure networks in patients from the target population, both with EEG suggestive and not suggestive of epileptogenic activity? Participants will have a rs-fMRI and those with seizure networks will receive treatment with two antiseizure medications and a post-treatment rs-fMRI. Researchers will compare the pretreatment and post-treatment rs-fMRIs to see if there are changes in the participant's functional connectivity including seizure networks and typical resting state networks.

The purpose of this study is to test the drug apomorphine in subjects who are in a Vegetative State or a Minimally Conscious State.

The aim is to evaluate the impact of RPh201 on brain activity in chronic vegetative state patients. The assessment will be done using clinical measurements and functional MRI studies.

In this study researchers will apply transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for 5 consecutive days in chronic patients in minimally conscious state (MCS).

The aim of this study is to determine whether transcranial brain stimulations, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), are effective in terms of EEG coherence and clinical changes in patients in vegetative and minimally conscious state.