Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41923621›Full record

ArticleCell reports. Medicine2026

Multisensory integration in peripersonal space indexes consciousness states in sleep and disorders of consciousness.

Tommaso Bertoni, Giulia Ricci, Jane Jöhr, Brunella Donno, Jacinthe Cataldi, Julia Fellrath, Aurelie Stephan, Carolina Foglia, Sandro Lecci, Floriane Dauvin and 10 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cell reports. Medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

20 authors.

Tommaso BertoniMySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Translational Neural Engineering Lab, Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Giulia RicciSleep and Dreams Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Jane JöhrAcute Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Brunella DonnoMySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jacinthe CataldiSleep and Dreams Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Julia FellrathMySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Aurelie StephanSleep and Dreams Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Carolina FogliaMySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Sandro LecciCenter for Investigation and Research on Sleep, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Floriane DauvinCenter for Investigation and Research on Sleep, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marina Lopes Da SilvaAcute Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Mattia GaliganiMANIBUS Lab, Psychology Department, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
Polona PozegDepartment of Medical Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Vincent DunetDepartment of Medical Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marzia De LuciaLaboratoire de Recherche en Neuroimagerie (LREN), Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Jean-Paul NoelDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Elisa MagossoDepartment of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi", University of Bologna, Cesena Campus, Cesena, Italy.
Karin DiserensAcute Neurorehabilitation Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Francesca SiclariSleep and Dreams Group, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Andrea SerinoMySpace Lab, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: andrea.serino@unil.ch.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Reliably detecting consciousness in unresponsive patients remains an urgent ethical and clinical challenge, as no behavior-independent marker is currently accepted in clinical practice. We characterize consciousness as linked to a representation of the embodied subject of experience, mediated by multisensory integration within the peripersonal space (PPS) system. We test whether a neural marker of PPS representation could detect consciousness and predict clinical outcome in disorders of consciousness (DoC) patients. Using high-density electroencephalography (EEG) during a task-free audiotactile task, we derive a PPS index based on high-beta oscillations. In healthy participants, the PPS index is present during wakefulness and dreaming, but absent in dreamless sleep. In 72 DoC patients, the PPS index correlates with behavioral measures of consciousness and predicts recovery at discharge. The index is associated with forebrain mesocircuit integrity. These findings highlight a bedside-compatible electrophysiological marker with potential clinical utility for detecting covert consciousness and predicting outcomes in non-responsive patients.

Indexed as

ConsciousnessConsciousness DisordersPersonal SpaceSleepAdultAgedElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedWakefulnessbeta oscillationsconsciousnessdisorders of consciousnessEEGmultisensory integrationperipersonal spacesleep

Identifiers

PMID41923621
PMCPMC13130652

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.