Brain stimulation

A novel wearable that stimulates the olfactory system using electrical pulses has been proposed as a way to prevent or slow dementia-related neurodegeneration. A dysfunctional sense of smell is suspected to be one of the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s.

New data reporting the long-term effects of deep brain stimulation on early-stage Parkinson’s patients has found the treatment significantly slows the progression of the disease. A large Phase 3 trial is now underway to verify these findings.

The brain is hard to treat – medications have side effects and surgery is dangerous and invasive. But now, researchers have shown how ultrasound can be used to affect specific regions of the brain, and even influence behavior in monkeys.

Stanford researchers optimized an FDA-approved form of non-invasive magnetic brain stimulation to better treat treatment-resistant depression. A preliminary study achieved a 90-percent remission rate, with larger trials underway.

University of Wisconson, Madison researchers have found a kind of "consciousness switch" in a specific area of the brain. When they hit this spot with electrical stimulation, monkeys immediately woke up from an anesthetized state.

Following on from prior research finding brain wave patterns can signal whether antidepressant medication will be effective, a study is reporting the development of an algorithm that can predict patient response to antidepressants based on EEG data.

Researchers at Northwestern University have used a non-invasive form of magnetic brain stimulation to improve the memory of older adults. After just five short sessions the older adults scored as well as a younger cohort on a variety of memory tasks.

A new study conducted by scientists at Boston University has outlined a non-invasive brain stimulation technique that was able to restore working memory in 70-year-old subjects, so much so they functioned like a healthy 20-year-old.