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fMRI reveals cognitive and emotional processing in a long-term comatose patient.

Eickhoff SB, Dafotakis M, Grefkes C, Stöcker T, Shah NJ, Schnitzler A, Zilles K, Siebler M

Institut für Neurowissenschaften und Biophysik - Medizin (INB 3), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. S.Eickhoff@fz-juelich.de

We report on a 41-year old woman with prolonged comatose unresponsiveness following traumatic head injury. Structural MRI showed bilateral midbrain damage and ventriculomegalia. Functional MRI revealed robust cortical responses to visual, auditory and tactile stimulation. Speech stimuli moreover consistently elicited activation in Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Familiar speakers and direct addressing evoked significantly stronger amygdala activation than unfamiliar speakers and neutral phrases. This study hence demonstrates the potential of functional neuroimaging in the investigation of residual higher cortical functions in unresponsive comatose patients.

Published 28 November 2008 in Exp Neurol, 214(2): 240-6.
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