Scientists Find a New Way to Combat Mental Disorders

Neural implants can combat mental and behavioral disorders.

There are numerous ways to treat disorders of brain activity that cause depression, mood changes, dementia, etc. The new method proposed by scientists is based on the individual characteristics of each person's brain activity.

A new invention by American researchers is undergoing testing, which, according to scientists, can not only identify mental disorders of the brain but also influence it in such a way as to correct psychological and behavioral disorders such as depression, post-traumatic syndrome, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Data from the research was published in the scientific journal Nature: "closed-loop" brain implants will help create special algorithms that identify mood disorders and adjust the brain's state to return it to normal functioning.

The implants are the development of two teams of scientists from the University of California and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. They work on the principle of generating electrical impulses that regulate a person's feelings and mood. The impulse sent to a person's brain is tailored specifically to the individual, calculated based on the characteristics of their brain activity. The invention has been tested on six volunteers.

A New Era in Treating Mental Disorders

Scientists refer to their invention as a "window into the brain," as, according to the head of the testing, Edward Chang, the implant allows doctors to track what happens in a person's brain at the moment a mental disorder arises. As researchers hope, their development will be the first step towards creating fundamentally new non-invasive methods for treating mental disorders. Unlike previous methods of brain stimulation, this method is highly individualized; the doctor studies the physiological responses of the specific patient and develops a personalized strategy to combat the disorder.