MRI in disorders of consciousness
Samuel B. Snider, Brian L Edlow
Current Opinion in Neurology December 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1097/wco.0000000000000873 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with disorders of consciousness following brain injury |
| Key findings | The authors report that structural and functional MRI measures, particularly regional and global white matter integrity and resting-state functional connectivity in particular networks, have shown significant improvement over clinical features in identifying acute and chronic disorders-of-consciousness patients likely to recover awareness. They also note that stimulus-based and motor-imagery fMRI paradigms have identified some behaviorally unresponsive patients with cortical processing and activation patterns mirroring healthy controls, and propose that refined fMRI paradigms may provide opportunities for interacting with such patients. |
Abstract
Purpose of review: In the study of brain-injured patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC), structural and functional MRI seek to provide insights into the neural correlates of consciousness, identify neurophysiologic signatures of covert consciousness, and identify biomarkers for recovery of consciousness. Recent findings: Cortical volume, white matter volume and integrity, and structural connectivity across many grey and white matter regions have been shown to vary with level of awareness in brain-injured patients. Resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) within and between canonical cortical networks also correlates with DoC patients’ level of awareness. Stimulus-based and motor-imagery fMRI paradigms have identified some behaviorally unresponsive DoC patients with cortical processing and activation patterns that mirror healthy controls. Emerging techniques like dynamic rs-FC have begun to identify temporal trends in brain-wide connectivity that may represent novel neural correlates of consciousness. Summary: Structural and functional MRI will continue to advance our understanding of brain regions supporting human consciousness. Measures of regional and global white matter integrity and rs-FC in particular networks have shown significant improvement over clinical features in identifying acute and chronic DoC patients likely to recover awareness. As they are refined, functional MRI paradigms may additionally provide opportunities for interacting with behaviorally unresponsive patients.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- Sleuthing subjectivity: a review of covert measures of consciousness. Nature Reviews Neuroscience May 23, 2025
- Decrease and recovery of integrated information Φ during anesthesia and sleep on human functional magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroscience of Consciousness 2025
- An implementation of integrated information theory in resting-state fMRI. Communications Biology July 5, 2023
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and 2 more in the library