ArticleLife (Basel, Switzerland)2025
Impact of Gentle Touch Stimulation Combined with Advanced Sensory Stimulation in Patients in a Minimally Conscious State: A Quasi-Randomized Clinical Trial.
Article in Life (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- P300 Event-Related Potentials as Cognitive Biomarkers in Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review.Revista de neurologia · 2026Pooled it
- Research progress on occupational therapy for disorders of consciousness in the context of neurorehabilitation: visual analysis based on CiteSpace.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- EEG oscillatory changes following rehabilitative tactile and thermal stimulation in disorders of consciousness: a longitudinal and pilot study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Touch, particularly affective touch mediated by C-tactile fibers, plays a key role in emotional regulation and therapeutic interventions. However, tactile stimulation is underutilized in sensory stimulation (SS) protocols for brain injury patients, despite its potential to enhance consciousness and promote recovery through neural and autonomic regulation. Tools like the Neurowave enable advanced multisensory stimulation, including audio-visual and emotional inputs, but lack tactile components. Integrating gentle touch stimulation with such systems could further enhance neuroplasticity, improve heart rate regulation, and support recovery in patients with disorders of consciousness. In this study, twenty patients affected by minimally conscious state (MCS) were divided into two groups: an experimental group (EG n.10) and a control group (CG n.10). Both groups underwent standard neurorehabilitation, including conventional physiotherapy and speech therapy. The key difference was in the type of sensory stimulation. The EG received advanced sensory stimulation with the Neurowave system (which provides audio-visual and emotional sensory stimulation) in addition to gentle touch stimulation. The CG received conventional sensory stimulation without the Neurowave and neutral gentle touch stimulation. Each patient was evaluated by a multidisciplinary rehabilitation team, using clinical scales such as coma recovery scale-revised (CSR-R), level of cognitive functioning (LCF), before (T0) and after (T1) treatment. Additionally, heart rate (HR) and neurophysiological outcomes (P300) were also recorded for both groups (EG and CG). The MANOVA model revealed a significant interaction effect between group and phase on P300 latency (F (1, 18) = 10.23,
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