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fNIRS for Disorders of Consciousness

University of California, Los Angeles · NCT07485361

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 18+ · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Observational
Target enrollment
55
US sites recruiting
1
Study start
May 1, 2026
Record last updated
June 8, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this observational study is to learn whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can measure brain activity in healthy adults and in people with disorders of consciousness (DoC) in the neuro-intensive care unit (Neuro-ICU). DoC include conditions such as coma and minimally conscious state that occur after severe brain injury. These conditions make it difficult to assess a person's level of awareness because many clinical tests rely on observable behaviors such as speaking or moving, which are commonly impaired after brain injury.

The main questions the study aims to answer are:

  • Can fNIRS detect changes in brain activity in healthy adults when they receive sensory stimulation or perform mental tasks?
  • Can the same fNIRS protocol be used in patients with disorders of consciousness in the Neuro-ICU to measure brain responses and determine whether the method is feasible in this clinical setting?

The investigators will first study healthy adult volunteers to establish baseline brain responses and determine which tasks produce the most reliable signals. The protocol will then be applied to patients with disorders of consciousness admitted to the Neuro-ICU.

Participants will take part in a single research session lasting about 30 to 45 minutes while wearing the lightweight fNIRS headband that measures brain oxygen levels using near-infrared light. During the session, participants will:

  • Wear a non-invasive fNIRS headband placed on the forehead
  • Receive gentle sensory stimulation (for example, compression devices on the legs or hands)
  • Listen to sounds or spoken sentences
  • Perform guided mental tasks such as imagining walking through their home or imagining moving a limb

The study does not test a treatment and will not change medical care. The goal is to determine whether fNIRS can safely and reliably measure brain activity at the bedside and provide preliminary information that may help guide future research on improving the assessment of consciousness after brain injury.

Being studied: Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Monitoring

Conditions: Disorders of Consciousness Due to Severe Brain Injury; Disorders of Consciousness; Coma; Minimally Conscious State; Unresponsive Wakefulness Syndrome; Brain Injury; TBI Traumatic Brain Injury

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Healthy Control Participants

  • Age 18 years or older
  • Proficient in English language
  • Intact cognition
  • Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score > 26

DoC Patients

  • Age 18 years or older
  • Proficient in English language
  • Surrogate decision maker available
  • Admission to the intensive care unit within 28 days
  • Documented Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score
  • Auditory Function subscale score ≥1 on the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R)

Exclusion Criteria

Healthy Control Participants

  • Known baseline hearing impairment without available hearing aids
  • Neurological or psychiatric history

DoC Patients

  • Known baseline hearing impairment without available hearing aids
  • Inability to obtain informed consent
  • Extensive bilateral frontal injury on available imaging (CT/MRI)
  • Patients who have undergone craniectomy surgery
  • IV sedation in the past 24 hours
  • Absent auditory startle response (\<1 from Auditory Function subscale score of CRS-R)

Recruiting US locations

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Lauren H Furtick, MSN, RN, PhD Candidate · (424)281-0121 · lfurtick@ucla.edu
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fNIRS for Disorders of Consciousness (NCT07485361) | Bored Studies