There is no doubt that scientists have made the world a better place. Depression can, at its worst, result in suicide. Every year, around 700,000 people die by suicide. For people aged 15 to 29, suicide is the fourth most common cause of death.
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Although there are well-established, efficient therapies for mental problems, few people seek out assistance or receive care; however, this new development is unquestionably a deal-breaker.
To treat a patient's depression, researchers recently implanted electrodes into the patient's skull. They did this hoping that the patient's condition might be improved by sending brief, gentle electric pulses into the brain. Researchers are now eagerly awaiting the start of a second trial.
When surgeons in St. Louis removed a patient's skull to implant electrodes, they introduced this technology in September. Startup Inner Cosmos, one of many businesses developing technology that can be implanted into patients' brains, performed the surgery.
Elon Musk's Neuralink is the most well-known of these businesses. Although the company has recently been the focus of considerable criticism, it also asserts that it has taught monkeys how to control computer games mentally.
This research, which was the first to treat depression with implants placed directly inside the skull, may usher in a new era in which science treats mental health problems with hardware rather than more conventional approaches like psychiatry and psychology.
The patient's left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex receives a pulse from the Inner Cosmos hardware, roughly the size of a penny. As it travels through the patient's brain, it measures neuronal activity to determine the appropriate stimulation level.
That occurs once for around 15 minutes every day.
This initial trial is anticipated to extend for about a year and could include a few additional participants.
Although there is considerable disagreement regarding the optimum area of the brain to activate to produce the desired effects, this Inner Cosmos technique focuses on a region that is also the target of another technique called transcranial magnetic stimulation.
Even though it's still extremely early, you have to acknowledge that the research is intriguing.
The idea is that surgery should be as little intrusive as possible to gain the highest amount of take-up, and some businesses are actually focusing on fully non-surgical alternatives, such as an electrode helmet.
In order to restore humanity's cognitive power, according to Inner Cosmos CEO Meron Gribetz, they must first rebalance the human mind. He also added;
“The world is in a state of severe disorder, leading to a disordered cognition
“The effects are being felt by millions, leading to surging levels of depression.
“We believe our approach can allay the lives of those suffering from depression, and eventually scale to other cognitive disorders.”
We will have to stay updated on this trial, however it's a fine development.
