Combining whole-brain models with deep learning, researchers mapped the low-dimensional space of patients with disorders of consciousness and simulated pharmacological interventions by altering neuromodulatory levels. Serotonergic and opioid receptor activation shifted the models toward brain dynamics seen in healthier states, with improvements correlating with the mean density of activated receptors across the brain. This approach provides a way to explore therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs within ethical and methodological constraints, marking progress toward treatments for disorders of consciousness and other brain diseases.
Disorders of consciousness involve impaired awareness with few non-invasive treatment options. Researchers used computer models to simulate how activating certain receptors, particularly serotonergic and opioid receptors, alters whole-brain dynamics in patients. The simulations shifted patients' brain activity patterns toward those seen in conscious, awake individuals. This effect depended on the density of activated receptors across the brain. The results suggest whole-brain modeling can help identify new pharmacological treatments and support the potential of serotonergic psychedelics to accelerate recovery of consciousness.
Over the past thirty years, the scientific study of the brain basis of consciousness has advanced through research on both brain-damaged patients and healthy individuals. Certain neuropsychological syndromes, such as blindsight, visual agnosias, and neglect, reveal dissociations that help identify principles of consciousness. These principles are then tested in healthy subjects using experimental psychology and brain imaging. This review focuses on visual phenomenal consciousness, the most studied aspect, and describes how findings from neuropsychological conditions and phenomena like visual illusions and subliminal perception have been generalized. The authors outline a scientific model of consciousness based on a "global workspace" that incorporates the reviewed evidence.