Neuroscience of consciousness in the locked-in syndrome: Prognostic and diagnostic review

Abstract

The neurological illness known as a locked-in syndrome is brought on by damage to the brainstem, usually as a consequence of a stroke. It is characterized by total paralysis with intact consciousness and cognitive capacity. The subjective experiences of people with locked-in syndrome are poorly understood. Presently, there is no systematic evaluation developed to describe them. The most compelling resources come from individuals’ own words; however, only a small fraction of these accounts have been explored. When it comes to bioethics, locked-in syndrome protocols are almost completely absent. Investigations on how people with this condition feel about their sense of continuity are of importance. Utilizing the locked-in syndrome to pose questions on embodied cognition and levels of consciousness could serve as a lens through which to examine problems in the phenomenology of neuroparalysis and communication. Care and quality of patients’ lives might be improved by an effort to understand this condition better, and ontological questions like “what makes a person a person?,” “what makes a person appear in continuity?,” and “what are the dynamics of embodiment and intersubjectivity?” might be better explored through that lens. This article aims to explore some biomedical factors that contribute to locked-in syndrome and offers some prognostic and diagnostic recommendations for this rare condition.