Audrey Vanhaudenhuyse

TL;DR: It is shown that a small proportion of patients in a vegetative or minimally conscious state have brain activation reflecting some awareness and cognition, and this technique may be useful in establishing basic communication with patients who appear to be unresponsive.

TL;DR: Standardized neurobehavioral assessment is a more sensitive means of establishing differential diagnosis in patients with disorders of consciousness when compared to diagnoses determined by clinical consensus.

TL;DR: It is shown that default network connectivity is decreased in severely brain-damaged patients, in proportion to their degree of consciousness impairment, as well as in healthy controls and locked-in syndrome patients.

TL;DR: It is suggested that propofol-induced unconsciousness could be linked to a breakdown of cerebral temporal architecture that modifies both within- and between-network connectivity and thus prevents communication between low-level sensory and higher-order frontoparietal cortices, thought to be necessary for perception of external stimuli.

TL;DR: An improved assessment of brain function in coma and related states is not only changing nosology and medical care but also offers a better-documented diagnosis and prognosis and helps to further identify the neural correlates of human consciousness.