Jacques Luauté1, Anne Dubois2, Lizette Heine3, Chloé Guironnet2, Ariane Juliat2, Valérie Gaveau4, Barbara Tillmann3, Fabien Perrin3. 1. Service de médecine physique et de réadaptation, rééducation neurologique, hôpital Henry-Gabrielle, CHU de Lyon, 69230 Saint-Genis-Laval, France; Équipe IMPACT, Inserm U1028, CNRS, UMR5292, centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), université Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France. Electronic address: jacques.luaute@chu-lyon.fr. 2. Service de médecine physique et de réadaptation, rééducation neurologique, hôpital Henry-Gabrielle, CHU de Lyon, 69230 Saint-Genis-Laval, France. 3. Équipe CAP, Inserm U1028, CNRS, UMR5292, centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), université Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France. 4. Équipe IMPACT, Inserm U1028, CNRS, UMR5292, centre de recherche en neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), université Lyon 1, 69000 Lyon, France.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: After a coma, one major challenge is the detection of awareness in patients with disorders of consciousness. In some patients, the only manifestation indicative of awareness is an appropriate emotional response. Preferred music is a powerful medium to elicit emotions and autobiographical memory. Furthermore, music has been shown to improve cognitive functions both in healthy subjects and patients with neurological impairment. We hypothesized that signs of awareness could be enhanced in some patients with disorders of consciousness under appropriate emotional stimulation such as preferred music and also probably preferred odors. METHODS: To investigate an objective, easily recordable marker of emotions at the patients' bedside, electrodermal activity (skin conductance level, SCL) was assessed with stimulations in auditory and olfactory modalities, notably with preferred music, neutral sound, preferred odors, and neutral odors. The study was conducted in 11 patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) and 7 healthy participants. RESULTS: In healthy subjects, the mean amplitude of the SCL was increased during exposure to preferred music as compared to neutral sounds (respectively: 0.00037±0.0004 vs. - 0.00004±0.00019μS). No significant difference between conditions was detected in patients. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that electrodermal activity could be a useful marker of emotions induced by music in healthy controls. However, it failed to show any significant difference between conditions in patients with DOC.
OBJECTIVES: After a coma, one major challenge is the detection of awareness in patients with disorders of consciousness. In some patients, the only manifestation indicative of awareness is an appropriate emotional response. Preferred music is a powerful medium to elicit emotions and autobiographical memory. Furthermore, music has been shown to improve cognitive functions both in healthy subjects and patients with neurological impairment. We hypothesized that signs of awareness could be enhanced in some patients with disorders of consciousness under appropriate emotional stimulation such as preferred music and also probably preferred odors. METHODS: To investigate an objective, easily recordable marker of emotions at the patients' bedside, electrodermal activity (skin conductance level, SCL) was assessed with stimulations in auditory and olfactory modalities, notably with preferred music, neutral sound, preferred odors, and neutral odors. The study was conducted in 11 patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) and 7 healthy participants. RESULTS: In healthy subjects, the mean amplitude of the SCL was increased during exposure to preferred music as compared to neutral sounds (respectively: 0.00037±0.0004 vs. - 0.00004±0.00019μS). No significant difference between conditions was detected in patients. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that electrodermal activity could be a useful marker of emotions induced by music in healthy controls. However, it failed to show any significant difference between conditions in patients with DOC.