Paroxysmal theta power reactivity is related to survival in anoxic vegetative state patients

Disorders of consciousness (DOC) due to severe acute brain injuries (e.g., anoxic encephalopathy) are defined by loss of consciousness and absence of reactivity to external stimuli. DOC patients are often classified as being in a state of coma, a vegetative state (VS) or a minimally consciousness state (MCS) (Schorr et al., 2015). A shift in awareness from VS to MCS includes clinically-defined behaviors such as visual fixation, directed reaction to stimuli, and congruent emotional responses. However, these cognitively mediated behaviors appear inconsistently, making it difficult to reliably identify them as non-reflexive behaviors (Fingelkurts et al., 2011).

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