A brain implant that would treat epilepsy and other neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease has been developed by researchers.
Brain stimulation is used by doctors to treat depressionthe effects ofa cerebral vascular accident (CVA) or even epilepsy. This technique involves sending electrical impulses to control brain activity. However, until now, the devices used cannot stimulate brain activity and record it at the same time. A team of American researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a neurostimulator that seems to achieve this. Their study is published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.
The implant allows movement control
This brain implant, called “WAND” could improve the treatment of epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, two neurological conditions. The device is able to monitor electrical activity in the brain and learn to identify abnormal signals that indicate seizures or tremors. The implant can then modulate these electrical signals in order to avoid them. The researchers first tested WAND on macaques. They taught them to use a joystick to move a cursor on a screen to specific locations. Next, the brain implant learned to detect brain signals that corresponded to the macaques’ movements. He was then able to send electrical impulses, which made it possible to delay these movements.
The hope of a treatment adapted to each patient
“Delaying reaction time has been demonstrated before, but to our knowledge this is the first time this has been done in a closed-loop system, which relies solely on neurological recording,” says assistant professor Rikky Muller and the one of the authors of the study. The fact that WAND can stimulate the brain and record brain activity at the same time could lead to treatments tailored to each patient, for each condition. “Because we can actually stimulate and record in the same brain region, we know exactly what is happening when we provide therapy,” notes Muller.
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