Doctors from the USA cured depression for the first time by implanting an implant in the human brain
Surgical treatment of depression is not a novelty of medicine at all. So in the middle of the 20th century, lobotomy was performed in dozens of countries in order to improve the condition of patients, finally depriving them of hope for recovery. But today science has stepped far forward and surgical treatment of various psychoses has become effective. For example, at the University of California in San Francisco, for the first time in history, a woman was cured of depression using a brain implant.
The development of scientists from California is a miniature device. It is implanted into the human brain and affects a certain area of it with electrical impulses. Thanks to this clever device, it is possible to cure drug-resistant depression in just one day. In general, this is an important and promising discovery, because it can be used for other diseases and negative conditions.
Since the electrical impulses with which the device acts on parts of the brain are very weak, the patient does not notice them. But a person with such an implant immediately detects an improvement in mood. Gradually, the patient begins to show interest in the world around him. So far, this technology has helped only one person — a 36-year-old woman named Sarah.
The patient suffered from depression since adolescence. As a result, the doctors tried all known pharmaceuticals, physiotherapy and even manual practices on Sarah. Unfortunately, the patient was only getting worse, and in the last 5 years she almost did not get out of the painful state.
The specialists who performed the implantation of the device reported that it was a very complex and risky operation. But everything went well and, as it was supposed, the effect on certain parts of the brain can relieve patients from suffering. Since Sarah's case could be called an experiment, the woman had to actively help scientists. First, a temporary implant was implanted in her brain to find a place that needed stimulation.
She was given a tablet and asked to record all mood changes with it. At the same time, the sensor took readings of the activity of different parts of Sarah's brain. Thus, it was possible to find a place that is responsible for a woman's bad mood and a permanent implant was implanted in it. Immediately after the operation, Sarah felt relief and joy, which made her laugh. Impulses enter the patient's brain 300 times a day, while she does not experience any discomfort.
The operation to implant the implant in the brain was carried out a year ago. Now the doctors confidently stated that their expectations were met and the depression completely left Sarah. Now the university is recruiting a group of volunteers from 12 people. It is planned to carry out the same operations and monitor the condition of patients until 2035. This will determine the long-term consequences of implantation and will provide answers to many important questions.
It should be added that the implant for the treatment of depression was made from an electronic device for the treatment of epilepsy. This expensive equipment costs 35 thousand dollars (2.5 million rubles).