Retest reliability of event-related potentials (ERP) in unresponsive patients

Clinical experience suggests that patients with severe disorders of consciousness (DOC) due to brain injury, i.e. vegetative state (PVS) or minimally conscious state (MCS) do not have constant performance levels but show large variations in their behavioral abilities. Novel diagnostic approaches using fMRI or ERPs attempt to detect traces of consciousness even if clinical ratings imply unresponsive wakefulness. It is especially important for such sensitive methods to be aware of possible consciousness fluctuations in DOC patients in order not to measure at the wrong time. We elicit ERPs during an auditory oddbal…