“Brain pacemaker” could treat depression, OCD
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008by Nilay Patel, posted Apr 29th 2008 at 1:46AM
Sending electrical shocks into the brain via a “brain pacemaker” has already led to dramatic breakthroughs like the revival of a man trapped in a vegetative state for six years, but new research may mean that the technique is soon a common treatment for disorders like depression and OCD. Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Mass General, Harvard Medical School and Brown Medical School implanted the Medtronics brain pacemaker into 17 people suffering from depression and tracked them for a year, finding significant improvements in mood as well as social and occupational functioning, while 26 patients suffering from OCD were followed for three years and also showed “marked improvement.” Findings will be presented to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons this week in Chicago, and clinical trials are scheduled for later this year — in other news, sales of “The Terminal Man” to neurosurgeons recently skyrocketed for unknown reasons.
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Filed under: Misc. gadgets
Up until just a couple of years ago, my old Walkman cassette player was still working. It was only recently that it gave out after years of use. For all those feeling nostalgic of old-skool music formats, check this MP3 cassette player out.
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