Researchers in Toronto have had success with direct brain stimulation of mood-controlling areas as a means of treating depression — they liken it to a pacemaker for the brain.
Four women and two men had electrodes planted deep into their brain to stimulate one of the areas involved in mood control.
Each underwent local anaesthetic before doctors drilled two small holes in their skulls. Then, using magnetic resonance imaging to guide them, doctors inserted two thin electrode wires into the brain area. The other ends of the wires were threaded under the scalp down to the lower neck area.
Next, the patients underwent a general anaesthetic to have a pulse generator implant, the "pacemaker", sewn in under the skin of their chest. The wires were hooked up to this to provide constant brain stimulation…
All six volunteers reported acute effects once the current was switched on. These included a sudden brightening of the room and a "disappearing of the void".
(via We Make Money Not Art)
