Restoring cortical connectivity directionality and synchronization is essential to treating disorder of consciousness.

The design of neurorehabilitation therapy to treat subjects with altered consciousness provides opportunities and challenges to professionals involved with the care for these severely ill patients. While there is an increased interest in determining methods to restore consciousness in these patients, the process is complex and challenging, due in part to the diverse aetiology of these states of consciousness, and also to the intricate cerebral connectivity involved in their treatment. The present case study examines a patient who showed signs of emergence from the vegetative state after neurorehabilitation using The Combined Method Therapy (CMT).

The sooner patients begin neurorehabilitation, the better their functional outcome.

Primary Objective: To determine whether early neurorehabilitation improves a patient's functional recovery.

Research Design: A retrospective study was carried out on patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who underwent a minimum of 4 months of integral and multidisciplinary neurorehabilitation.

Methods And Procedures: Fifty-eight patients with severe TBI were assessed at admission and at discharge using the FIM + FAM scale.

A QEEG index of level of functional dependence for people sustaining acquired brain injury: the Seville Independence Index (SINDI).

Primary Objective: To find an easy-to-use, valid and reliable tool for evaluating the level of functional dependence of an individual with brain damage who seeks a diagnosis of his/her functional dependence in daily activities.

Methods: Eighty-one patients with acquired brain injury (ABI) in post-acute phase, 40 traumatic brain injury (TBI) and 41 cerebral vascular accident (CVA), were assessed using quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) and grouped according to the FIM + FAM scale. Discriminant analysis was performed on QEEG variables to obtain a discriminant function with the best discriminative capacity between functionality groups.

The locked-in syndrome: a syndrome looking for a therapy.

The locked-in syndrome (LIS) is a very severe condition caused by a primary vascular or traumatic injury to the brainstem, normally corresponding to a ventral pons lesion due to an obstruction of the basilar artery, and characterized by upper motor neuron quadriplegia, paralysis of lower cranial nerves, bilateral paresis of horizontal gaze and anarthria, and with preserved consciousness. Patients who have suffered this pontine lesion generally have preserved vertical eye movements and movement of the eyelids (blinking), this being their only means of responding to the outside world. A survey was conducted of 44 people diagnosed with LIS, all of them belonging to the Association of Locked-in Syndrome (ALIS) of France.

The locked-in syndrome: a syndrome looking for a therapy.

A review of the scientific literature on locked-in syndrome (LIS) is offered. The clinical features, diagnosis and prognosis of LIS are reviewed, and methods regarding the differential diagnosis of LIS with severe disorders of consciousness are considered. Effective treatment, physiotherapy, and methods of communication are reviewed.

The role of citicholine in neuropsychological training after traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To report new strategies in the treatment of persistent memory deficits following traumatic brain injury (TBI) using a combination of pharmacology and neuropsychological training. Study design: Two studies were carried out. The first study measured the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of seven Patients with TBI with very severe memory deficits, once while resting and once one hour after the administration of citicholine (CDPc).