A patient in a minimally conscious state plus received psilocybin, a classic psychedelic, for the first time. No increase in overt behavioral repertoire was observed on validated scales, but new spontaneous behavior not previously seen emerged, and brain complexity, measured by the Lempel-Ziv complexity index, increased with changes in underlying periodic rhythms. This case report contributes to future investigations of psychedelics for disorders of consciousness and the link between brain complexity and consciousness.
In people with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES), a type of dissociative event, brain activity patterns shift markedly during the events compared to resting periods. EEG microstate analysis of 22 PNES patients and 24 healthy controls showed that microstate C, linked to the default mode network, was more prominent at rest in patients than in controls, but its duration, coverage, and global field power all decreased significantly during PNES events. This suggests a major change in default mode network dynamics during dissociative events, pointing to a mix of pathological and adaptive brain processes underlying PNES.