Adenauer G. Casali

TL;DR: An electroencephalographic-derived index of human consciousness that reflects the information content of the brain’s response to a magnetic stimulus is defined, and appears to be a robust measure that distinguishes conscious from unconscious states well enough to be used on an individual basis, a prerequisite for deployment in the clinic.

TL;DR: TMS findings represent the first direct characterization of the coarse electrophysiological properties of three associative areas of the human cerebral cortex and indicate that, in healthy subjects, each corticothalamic module is normally tuned to oscillate at a characteristic rate.

TL;DR: It is found that, unlike during wakefulness, wherein TMS triggered responses in multiple cortical areas lasting for >300 ms, during midazolam-induced LOC, TMS-evoked activity was local and of shorter duration, and a measure of the propagation of evoked cortical currents could reliably discriminate between consciousness and LOC.

TL;DR: Measurements of effective connectivity by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography can be performed at the bedside while by-passing subcortical afferent and efferent pathways, and without requiring active participation of subjects or language comprehension; hence, they offer an effective way to detect and track recovery of consciousness in brain-injured patients who are unable to exchange information with the external environment.

TL;DR: Assessment of consciousness during anesthesia with propofol, xenon, and ketamine, independent of behavioral responsiveness, suggests that brain complexity may be sensitive to the presence of disconnected consciousness in subjects who are considered unconscious based on behavioral responses.