中科院心理所翁旭初課題組日前與浙江大學、杭州師范大學和武警杭州醫(yī)院合作發(fā)現(xiàn),，呼喚病人名字所引起的腦激活模式對判斷植物人能否恢復(fù)意識有一定預(yù)測價值,。翁旭初和陳宜張院士聯(lián)合指導的博士生狄海波采用功能磁共振成像技術(shù)觀察到,，患者親人呼叫患者名字可以引起植物人聽覺中樞的激活。如果激活范圍較大,，涉及高級聽覺區(qū),，該患者的預(yù)后較好；但如果激活范圍僅局限于初級聽覺區(qū),，則病人預(yù)后較差,。這項研究發(fā)表在美國神經(jīng)病學學會的《神經(jīng)病學》（Neurology）上，當期雜志配發(fā)了兩頁社論,。新英格蘭醫(yī)學雜志社主辦的醫(yī)學科研新聞網(wǎng)Journal Watch曾兩次對該研究進行評論,。這些評論認為，中國科學家的這項研究對植物人臨床實踐具有重大的應(yīng)用潛力,，但同時也指出,，要確認這種方法的可靠性,，還需觀察更大的樣本量和進行更長時間的追蹤研究。該論文自去年五月發(fā)表以來已經(jīng)被國際同行引用16次,。
由于對植物人進行磁共振掃描難度較大,、且有一定風險，翁旭初指導的博士研究生秦鵬民嘗試采用更方便,、安全的腦電事件相關(guān)電位技術(shù),。這種技術(shù)可以直接在病床邊使用。他們的研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，由喚名刺激引起的一種腦電成分(失匹配負波)也同樣對植物人的臨床恢復(fù)有良好的預(yù)測效果,。這項工作的一部分已經(jīng)發(fā)表在最新一期的愛思唯爾期刊《神經(jīng)科學通訊》（Neuroscience Letters）上。
此外,，英國皇家內(nèi)科學院主辦的《臨床醫(yī)學》（Clinical Medicine）最近刊登了由狄海波,、翁旭初和比利時Liege大學的Laureys教授等撰寫的相關(guān)綜述。
2005年,，美國對一名植物狀態(tài)患者(俗稱植物人)案例的判決引起了一場軒然大波,，美國立法、司法,、行政部門和媒體,、民眾相繼卷入了這場激烈的爭論。各方爭執(zhí)的焦點是繼續(xù)維持還是終止患者的生命維持系統(tǒng),。對植物人長期的治療和護理,，患者家庭和社會都需要付出昂貴的代價，而醫(yī)學界又缺乏對植物人預(yù)后的客觀判斷標準,，因此這場爭論是注定不可避免的。采用神經(jīng)影像技術(shù)檢測腦活動模式,，探索植物人預(yù)后判斷的客觀指標正成為各國科學家的研究熱點,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Neuroscience Letters，Volume 448, Issue 1, 19 December 2008, Pages 24-28
Mismatch negativity to the patient’s own name in chronic disorders of consciousness
Pengmin Qina, Haibo Dib, Xiaodan Yana, Senming Yuc, Dan Yuc, Steven Laureysd and Xuchu Wenga
aLaboratory for Higher Brain Functions, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 4A Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China
bHangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, China
cRehabilitation Center for Brain Damage, Wujing Hospital of Hangzhou City, Hangzhou, China
dComa Science Group, Cyclotron Research Centre and Neurology Department, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Abstract
Previous studies implicated potential value of mismatch negativity (MMN) in predicting recovery of consciousness in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). We have adopted a novel MMN evoked by subject’s own name (SON), a self-referential stimulus thought to be powerful in evoking residual brain activity, and examined the correlation between the MMN and recovery of consciousness in patients with chronic (>1 month) DOC. Twelve patients and 12 age-matched healthy controls were investigated. The patients were diagnosed as coma (n = 4), vegetative state (VS, n = 6), and minimally conscious state (MCS, n = 2), mainly based on the JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised. The SON-evoked MMN (SON-MMN) was present in seven patients. Critically, the presence of SON-MMN was significantly correlated with recovery of consciousness. While four of the five patients (three VS and two coma) showing SON-MMN changed to MCS 3 months later, the rest of the patients (three VS and two coma) without SON-MMN failed to show any clinical improvement. Our study thus illustrates that the subject’s own name is effective in evoking MMN in patients with DOC, and that SON-MMN has potential prognostic values in predicting recovery of consciousness.
