Brain Pacemaker Helps Treat Alzheimer's Disease 62
First time accepted submitter Press2ToContinue writes "Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the use of a pacemaker-like device implanted in the brain to treat the symptoms of diseases like Parkinson's, or other maladies such as depression. For the first time in the US, surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland have used this technique to attempt to slow memory loss in a patient suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. The fornix, a vital part of the brain that brings data to the hippocampus, is being targeted with this device. Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity. Holes are drilled into the skull, and wires are placed on both sides of the brain. Then, the stimulator device pumps in small and unnoticeable electrical impulses upwards of 130 times per second. Half of the patients will begin the electrical treatment two weeks post-surgery, but the other half won't have their pacemakers turned on until a full year after the surgery to provide comparison data for the study."
What about a healthy brain (Score:4, Interesting)
Now could you use this in a happy healthy brain to become even more happy and healthy?
Re:whatnow?? (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't know, how traumatic is having your children stolen then one of them being told to tell his new school that his parents are dead?
The Terminal Man (Score:4, Interesting)
Isn't this the plot of an old Michael Crichton novel [wikipedia.org]? The only difference is that the protagonist was affected by epilepsia rather than parkinson.
Re:whatnow?? (Score:5, Interesting)
CPS used fraud in a commercial tribunal to "legally" kidnap my children citing "risk of future emotional harm". I have never been arrested, charged, tried or convicted of any crime. I get to see them eight times a year for one hour at a time. IF it suits CPS to allow me to do so. It was during one of these "contact" sessions in 2010 that an unprompted disclosure was made. CPS immediately STOPPED further contact, and I had to drag their arses through a commercial tribunal to *see my own children*. I still do not have letterbox or telephone contact, nor do I even know what schools they go to, although I do know that they have been separated, and the older two are being pumped full of psychotropic drugs.
Next daft question?