A Minimally Conscious Patient Suddenly 'Awakens,' Thanks to a Common Depressant

​The doctors weren't expecting that the small dose of a common anti-anxiety drug called midazolam would do anything more than lightly sedate their patient for a CT scan—as intended. But said patient, who had been in a minimally-conscious state for two years following a motorcycle accident-caused brain injury, quite suddenly began to interact and converse, just out of the blue. He chatted up the anesthesiologist, talked to his aunt via cellphone, and congratulated his brother on a recent graduation.

Then, the patient reverted, just as suddenly returning to a near-vegetative existence, a relationship with the world through a pinhole of awareness and interactivity.

This "awakening," which occurred in a hospital in Pisa, Italy, ​is described by a team of neuroscientists in the current issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience. Following the event, the team attempted to duplicate it using the same drug. Again, the patient began to converse and interact, "appropriately" following both behavioral and verbal commands. The patient had no memory of the accident and no awareness of his current status. Normal life might as well have been yesterday.

As the drug wore off, the patient again receded.

more

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_au/read/a-minimally-conscious-patient-awakens-thanks-to-an-everyday-depressant