Personalized brain stimulation significantly decreases depression symptoms in pilot study

Credit: Wikimedia Commons In a small pilot study, UNC School of Medicine researchers led by Flavio Frohlich, Ph.D., used a new closed-loop system to measure the electrical brain patterns of individual patients and then stimulate those patterns with a weak electrical current, resulting in significantly improved symptoms of major depressive disorder. Our brains are full of electricity, billions of signals being sent each day whether we’re exercising, eating, singing, reading, working, sleeping, or just relaxing. And when we’re sitting with our thoughts—awake with our eyes closed—particular electrical patterns at 8–12 Hz dominate our brains. They are called alpha oscillations. In Read More