Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Over the past decade, it has become apparent that up to 25% of behaviourally unresponsive patients with acute or chronic disorders of consciousness reveal high spatio-temporal complexity following a direct electrical or magnetic pulse to the brain, highly differentiated EEG responses or voluntary modulation of their brain activity on command, each of which has been interpreted, to varying degrees, as evidence of consciousness. Practitioners designate this phenomenon using a dizzying variety of terms. The realization that 'unresponsiveness' does not equate to 'unconsciousness' changes how patients should be assessed and how the medical team communicates with them, their families and the world at large. We propose that the term 'covert consciousness' be used in all such communications to designate this subcategory of behaviourally unresponsive patients, with context-appropriate qualifiers and counselling accompanying its use.
Source: Brain
Institutions: University of Liège, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège, NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Allen Institute, Tiny Blue Dot Foundation, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, University of Milan, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,570
Awards: G3454441416, G4250270302, G4403456761
OpenAlex ID: W4414436754