1 in 4 coma patients are aware of their surroundings: Study

The study tested 241 unresponsive coma patients
25% of patients can think
Patients were asked to do complex cognitive tasks

Updated: Aug 19, 2024 / 01:11 PM EDT

A file photo of a hospital bed. (Getty Images)

(NewsNation) — Teams of neurologists have found that approximately a quarter of unresponsive coma patients are at least somewhat aware of their surroundings, according to a new study.

The study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that in patients with brain injury who are unresponsive to commands, 1 in 4 of them were able to think and were at least somewhat aware.

Neurologists at six research centers asked 241 unresponsive patients to spend several minutes doing complex cognitive tasks, such as imagining themselves playing tennis, and 25% of them responded with the same patterns of brain activity seen in healthy people.

This phenomenon, called cognitive motor dissociation, has not previously been studied in a large cohort of persons with disorders of consciousness.

The testing was done with functional resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG).