Familiar voices and stories help coma patient recovery

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

Hearing the soothing sound of a loved ones voice and listening to familiar stories can help awaken the unconscious brain and speed the recovery of coma patients, according to research published Thursday in the journal Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair.

In the study, researchers from Northwestern University and the Hines VA Hospital found that coma patients who heard familiar stories stored in their long-term memory from family members four times a day for six weeks regained consciousness significantly faster and tended to have an improved recovery compared to those who did not hear such stories.

We believe hearing those stories in parents and siblings voices exercises the circuits in the brain responsible for long-term memories. That stimulation helped trigger the first glimmer of awareness, said lead author Theresa Pape, a neuroscientist from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Hines VA Hospital.

Its like coming out of anesthesia. Its the first step in recovering full consciousness, she added. After the study treatment, I could tap them on the shoulder, and they would look at me. Before the treatment they wouldnt do that.

A coma is an unconscious state, typically caused by a traumatic brain injury, in which a patient is unable to open his or her eyes. Patients typically progress from a coma to a minimally conscious or vegetative state that can last for months or even years. Being more aware of their environment allows them to actively participate in physical, speech and occupational therapy.

In addition to benefiting the patient, the familiar voices treatment can also help friends and family members, who usually feel helpless and out of control when a loved one is such a state, Pape said. Recording to the stories can help them feel as though they are playing a role in the patients treatment and given them a sense of control over his or her recovery, she added.

The research

In their randomized, placebo-controlled study, the researchers enrolled 15 patients with traumatic head injuries who were in a minimally conscious or vegetative state. Those patients (12 men and 3 women) were an average of 35 years old and had started what is known as Familiar Auditory Sensory Training (FAST) therapy an average of 70 days after suffering their injuries.

First, Papes team conducted baseline testing to see whether or not patients would be responive to sounds such as bells and whistles, whether or not they followed directions to open their eyes, and if they were alert enough to visually track a person walking across the room. This data was used to measure if there was improvement following a six-week FAST treatment period.

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Familiar voices and stories help coma patient recovery