Neurologists are also exploring the possibility of implanting stimulators (sold now by Medtronic for Parkinson's disease) deep in the brains of the minimally conscious to boost thalamus activity.

FORBES: Twilight Zone

The hope was that this would restore brain cell activity in the thalamus, a relay station that integrates input from many parts of the brain, helping make consciousness possible.

FORBES: Twilight Zone

Researchers at Stanford and at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in France had targeted neurons in the mouse brain's cortex and thalamus known to be overactive during seizures.

WSJ: Scientists Cast Light Onto Roots of Illness Deep in the Brain