Affiliations: Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Germany | Functional Imaging Unit, Center for Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University of Greifswald, Germany
Note: [] Corresponding author: Boris Kotchoubey, Institute for Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Gartenstraße 29, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany. Tel.: +49 7071 2974221; Fax: +49 7071 295956; E-mail: boris.kotchoubey@uni-tuebingen.de
Abstract: The locked-in syndrome (LiS) is typically characterized by a paralysis of almost all body muscles combined with intact cognitive functions. In practice, there are often additional brain damages besides the one directly causing LiS. These damages can lead to cognitive impairment, which substantially complicates the diagnosis of LiS. At the level of behavior, therefore, the disease can be confused with akinetic mutism, vegetative state (syn. unresponsive wakefulness state) and some other conditions. Using instrumental methods in addition to behavioral diagnostics helps to avoid diagnostic errors and to improve prognosis of rehabilitation of such patients. These methods, which include measurements of brain electric or magnetic fields, electrical potential of muscles, blood flow and oxygen consumption in the brain, are reviewed in this paper.
