Revolutionary Treatment Restored Coma Patient Consciousness

When someone wakes up from years of coma, it’s almost always news. But what happened some time ago in a French hospital is a more special story from a scientific point of view. It certainly gives hope to many patients in the same situation.

The study took place at the Pierre Wherteimer Neurological Hospital in Lyon, France. We use the word “research” because the events were not spontaneous. The lucky protagonist of the story is a 50-year-old man who had been in a coma since the age of 35 after being injured in a serious car accident.

The University of Lyon, located next to the hospital, conducted an interesting experiment based on simple vagus nerve stimulation. However, it was a slow process. Even today, more results and progress are expected from the experiment. In addition, the patient continues to suffer the serious consequences of the accident and his awakening is slow.

However, the man already reacts to different stimuli, draws attention, focuses his gaze and is able to turn his head towards things of interest. This is just the beginning, but still the first step, the first steps on the road to progress, from which we will certainly hear great news soon.

Let’s take a closer look at what this revolutionary treatment is based on. It was developed by a team of top physicians and led by researcher Marc Jeannerod of the Institute of Cognitive Sciences.

The consciousness of a comatose patient returns after 15 years

If psychologists and psychiatrists always tell us something, it is that nothing is as enigmatic as consciousness. It’s hard to explain what it really is.

However, those whose loved one is in a coma know quite well that a coma is a strange state between life and death. A coma patient has vital functions, but he is in some distant world, having lost his conception of humanity.

You should remember that that wire, i.e. the function of the neurons on which consciousness is based, is often quite fragile. This is the challenge for many scientists: to bring a person in a vegetative state back to the real world, the world of the senses.

The vagus nerve, the key to “waking up”

The experiment was published some time ago in Current Biology, and news has already rushed around the world.

However, scientists are asking for restraint, as so far only one patient has tried the treatment. In order to assess the true potential of treatment, it should be tried in more people with different types of brain damage.

Treatment is based on the vagus nerve. In it, small pacemakers are placed around the vagus nerve of a coma patient. Remember that the vagus nerve connects countless nerves, organs, and structures to our brains. It is like a channel through which the innumerable functions that this nerve “activates” or conditions for a certain type of reaction are combined.

In this case, scientists stimulate a specific area that connects to the vagus nerve : the brain network. It is a fascinating structure that is responsible, among other things, for regulating the sleep-wake rhythm.

A group of neurologists set in motion the following assumption: if they stimulated the vagus nerve, would it restore consciousness to the coma patient?

The result was slow but worked. The first person to try pacemakers woke up after 15 years in an unconscious state.

Further research is needed

The scientific community calls for restraint. Stimulation of the vagus nerve is nothing new in itself; in fact, it has been used for some time in patients with epilepsy, as well as in major depression. It “reactivates” consciousness and the functioning of many internal organs. But this activation is very slow: therapy still needs to be worked on. And even though this coma patient has woken up, he is still not independent and unable to interact with his environment.

That patient is in a conscious state, true. She is awake. But he is unable to communicate, and there is no evidence that he understands his own state. The only function the patient has seen so far is limited to his gaze: something catches his attention, he looks, observes, and seems to show special interest when his family members read something to him.

As we have already mentioned, it is very difficult to explain exactly what consciousness is. It undoubtedly has different stages and levels. This patient is still in the first stage. He would still need to take a few steps before he can fully wake up, communicate, and be truly connected to his environment. We hope that with time and the right kind of stimulation, he will still be able to do it.

In the meantime, we are waiting for more news on vagus nerve therapy in coma patients.