Abstract
Replying to: H. Staunton Nature 452, 10.1038/nature06574 (2008)
Staunton1 highlights prior work applying deep-brain stimulation (DBS) in related thalamic and other subcortical structures in vegetative-state patients. We focused on patients who have plateaued at the upper end of the minimally conscious state at least one year after injury2, a group distinct from patients remaining in or just above vegetative state within the low end of the minimally conscious state. Patients remaining in a chronic vegetative state have anatomic pathology consistent with widespread neuronal death and cerebral disconnection3. In these patients, forebrain structures within the corticostriatopallidal–thalamocortical systems have been overwhelmingly damaged .
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Schiff, N., Giacino, J., Kalmar, K. et al. Schiff et al. reply. Nature 452, E1–E2 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06575
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06575
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