Scientists from UCLA use ultrasound to jump-start a man’s brain after coma read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/700-scientists-from-ucla-use-ultrasound-to-jump-start-a-man-s-brain-after-coma

Coma treatment and recovery usually involves a lot of waiting, but scientists may have found a way to "jump-start" the brain using sonic stimulation.

Using this new technique, a 25-year-old man recovering from coma after succeeding a treatment at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in Los Angeles.

Martin Monti associate professor of psychology and neurosurgery at UCLA said, this was a risky surgical procedure known as deep brain stimulation, in which electrodes are implanted directly inside the thalamus.

The new technique called Low-intensity focused ultrasound pulsation developed by Alexander Bystritsky, a UCLA professor of psychiatry and bio behavioral sciences in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior.

The device creates a small sphere of acoustic energy that can be aimed at different regions of the brain to excite brain tissue. The device is safe it emits a small amount of energy.

This technique targets the thalamus because in people whose mental function is deeply impaired after a coma, thalamus performance is typically diminished. And medications that are commonly prescribed to people who are coming out of a coma target the thalamus only indirectly.

For testing, researchers placed it by the side of the man’s head and activated it 10 times for 30 seconds each, in a 10-minute period. Before the testing, the man showed only minimal signs of being conscious and of understanding speech. after the treatment, his responses had improved measurably.

Within three days, the patient had regained full consciousness and reliably communicate by nodding his head “yes” or shaking his head “no.” He even made a signal to say goodbye to one of his doctors.

If the technology helps other people recovering from coma, it could eventually be used to build a portable device perhaps incorporated into a helmet as a low-cost way to help “wake up” patients, perhaps even those who are in a vegetative or minimally conscious state.