Matthieu Koroma Assessing the ability to feel in unconscious individuals

The mysteries of unconsciousness

What happens in our brain and body when we are unconscious? Can we feel and "be there" without speaking, moving or generating electrical waves in our brain? To answer these questions, Matthieu Koroma wants to study the interactions between the brain and the body.

In Athena Demertzi's laboratory at Liege University’s Institute for Interdisciplinary Research in Biomedical Sciences, Dr. Koroma will study the reactions of healthy people’s bodies under deep anesthesia while producing sensations of body imbalance. A feeling of imbalance in the body can be induced by putting hot water in the inner ear, which regulates balance. This normally causes dizziness and rapid eye movements as the brain tries to correct the imbalance. Brain activity, the skin’s electrical activity, heart rate and eye movements in response to this protocol will be recorded and analyzed to assess communication between the brain and body that regulates the body states of seemingly unconscious individuals.

Sentience, or the ability to feel

The data gathered by Dr. Koroma may shed light on the relationship between the body's reactions and brain activity and provide information on sentience, the ability to feel, in states of apparent unconsciousness, during which it is impossible to communicate and which we cannot remember.

The in-depth study of the relationship between the body and the brain in states of unconsciousness is essential to guide medical decisions, manage pain and contribute to the debate on the end of life.