What Do We Actually Know About the Brain in Disorders of Consciousness?

2021Neurocritical CareLoading citations…Download PDFView on Neurocritical Care doi:10.1007/s12028-020-01137-2

Mechanisms Underlying Disorders of Consciousness: Bridging Gaps to Move Toward an Integrated Translational Science

Cain, J. A.*, Luppi, A. I., Spindler, L. R. B., Górska, U. J., Toker, D., Hudson, A. E., Brown, E. N., Diringer, M. N., Stevens, R. D., Massimini, M., Monti, M. M., Stamatakis, E. A., Boly, M., the Curing Coma Campaign collaborators.*Co-first authors

In plain English

What's the Point?

Overview

This co-first-authored white paper for the Curing Coma Campaign integrates cellular, network, and clinical evidence to map what is known—and unknown—about disorders of consciousness. It translates mechanistic gaps into a roadmap for diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention.

Background

Disorders of consciousness (coma, vegetative state, minimally conscious state) span many mechanisms and disciplines. Progress has been slowed by siloed research across cellular, network, and clinical levels.

Methods

A co-first-authored white paper for the Curing Coma Campaign, integrating evidence across cellular, network, and systems neuroscience with clinical diagnostics and prognostics.

Findings

We identify the key mechanistic gaps and translate them into actionable research questions that connect basic biology to diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention.

Impact

Proposes a roadmap for a multimodal, translational science of disorders of consciousness—now widely cited as a reference framework in the field.

Abstract

From the manuscript

This co-first-authored Curing Coma Campaign white paper synthesizes evidence across cellular, network, and systems neuroscience with clinical diagnostics and prognostics to identify key mechanistic gaps in disorders of consciousness. It proposes a roadmap for multimodal, translational research that connects underlying mechanisms with diagnosis, prognosis, and intervention.

Figures

Diagram of consciousness, connectedness, and responsiveness — Figure 1 · Framework

Whole-brain computational modeling schematic — Figure 2 · Modeling

Visual summary — Curing Coma mechanisms review — Visual summary
Infographic summarizing the C-EC-R framework, gaps, and virtuous cycle.

Full citation

Cain, J. A., Luppi, A. I., Spindler, L. R. B., Górska, U. J., Toker, D., Hudson, A. E., Brown, E. N., Diringer, M. N., Stevens, R. D., Massimini, M., Monti, M. M., Stamatakis, E. A., Boly, M., & the Curing Coma Campaign collaborators. (2021). Mechanisms Underlying Disorders of Consciousness: Bridging Gaps to Move Toward an Integrated Translational Science. Neurocritical Care, 35(1), 37–54.