Locked-in syndrome

Locked-in syndrome is a special type of brain injury syndrome characterized by the inability to swallow and speak, absence of facial expressions, inability to turn the head or shrug the shoulders, and quadriplegia. However, patients remain conscious, have normal hearing, can perceive pain, can receive external information through sight and hearing, and can communicate by opening and closing their eyes and moving their eyeballs up and down. This condition is often caused by bilateral infarction or hemorrhage in the basilar part of the pons.