Doctors have partially rekindled the mind of a man who was severely brain-damaged after an assault and had been in a minimally conscious state for six years.

'He enjoys a quality of life we never thought possible.'— Patient's mother

The 38-year-old patient received deep brain stimulation and can now feed himself and communicate, activities that were unthinkable before the therapy, according to a study published in the Aug. 2 issue of Nature.

This is the first time that deep brain stimulation has been used on a person with a traumatic brain injury in a minimally conscious state, and it offers some hope for others in similar situations, the researchers said.

The patient underwent a 10-hour operation during which electrodes were implanted into his brain and used to stimulate the thalamus on both sides of the brain. The procedure has been used in Parkinson's disease, dystonia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression.

The man, whose name was not released, also received other forms of rehabilitation.

"Now, my son can eat, express himself and let us know if he is in pain," his mother said in a statement. "He enjoys a quality of life we never thought possible."

"Hopefully, this will now begin to open doors that were closed up to this point," said Joseph Giacino, study co-investigator and associate director of neuropsychology at JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute and the New Jersey Neuroscience Institute.

"There's a very nihilistic view that when a brain is badly damaged there's not much we can do to change that. We have a very tough time getting research funded because of the need to jump higher than most other research.

"By demonstrating that we did move the bar in this patient this late, we hope that it's going to force people to revisit this somewhat nihilistic view."

In the trial, electrodes were implanted in the patient's brain and used to stimulate the thalamus.
CBC

The man was the first of 12 patients to be treated with deep brain stimulation in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved trial.

"There's a great period of scientific discovery coming with respect to traumatic brain injury," said Dr. Ali Rezai, senior author of the paper and director of the Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurological Restoration. "This had been a great big desert of unknowns."

There are still many unknowns, however, including whether this patient will continue to improve and whether deep brain stimulation will help other brain-injured patients, the researchers said.

"Being able to communicate is important, even if you remain disabled, because you can re-engage with people in your immediate environment, including family and the people taking care of you and give a better idea of your needs, said lead author Dr. Nicholas Schiff, an associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

"We were able to do this for this patient. Whether this means we'll be able to do this again, we don't know. It's a first step to building a science to do this."

"It's very dicey stuff, brain injury, because the next patient we enrol in the study, that brain injury will not be the same," Giacino added. "We need to continue to replicate the findings and figure out who would benefit from this."