- The deep brain stimulation implant was developed by researchers at Stanford University
- The goal is to promote activity between the regions responsible for memory and thinking
A brain implant for people with head injuries has proven so successful in trials that participants refused to turn off the device.
The deep brain stimulation implant, developed by researchers at Stanford University to help people with head injuries function again, attempts to increase activity between brain regions responsible for memory, thinking, problem solving and conscious learning.
Five people with head injuries reported that using the device during the trial allowed them to concentrate, remember, drive and get through the day without needing to take a nap.
And it proved so effective that two randomly selected participants refused to turn off the device.
Participants for the study were selected based on their injuries, with those who participated having previously recovered from a coma.
Deep brain stimulation implant attempts to increase activity between brain regions responsible for memory, thinking, problem solving and conscious learning (stock image)
It was developed by researchers at Stanford University to help people with head injuries regain function (stock image)
“In these patients, these signaling pathways are largely intact, but everything has been downregulated,” said Dr. Jaimie Henderson, Professor of Neurosurgery, told the Telegraph.
“It’s like the lights have been dimmed and there just isn’t enough power to turn them back on.”
By introducing electrical stimulation to specific areas of the brain, researchers hoped to make the light shine again. They used virtual models of each participant’s brain to test stimulation in different areas.
The devices were then implanted into the brains of participants between the ages of 22 and 60. They then spent 12 hours a day with the device on for 90 days.
Researchers say participants’ mental processing speed had improved by an average of 32 percent by the end of the trial.
When a participant’s device was turned off for three weeks, their processing ability dropped by 34 percent.
One participant said that he had seen a huge improvement in his functioning since the implantation.
“I don’t stumble anymore,” they said. “I remember how much money is in my bank account.” “I couldn’t read, but after the implantation I bought a book.”
Dr. Nicholas Schiff, a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and co-lead author of the study, told the Telegraph that the goal is to move research from the “groundbreaking moment” into therapy