Doctors Use Electrical Implant to Aid Brain-Damaged Woman

Is there a scientific shift occurring away from using chemicals, I.e. medications, to using electricity to treat all manner of physical brain issues?

One person is an example. It's a prototype. They tried something. It worked for a single person. Now they have to try it for bunches and bunches of people.

One-payor or one-provider, I really don't care which. I'm deeply disappointed that the state of health care in the US, which devours 17% of GDP vs 11% of comparable countries, is such that we can't even find these poor souls suffering from TBI. Maybe we can put the intrusive practices of Facebook and Google to good use and let them find TBI sufferers and tell them about the study.

Clinic-ordered, price-reduced MRIs in the 1980s showed I have two TBIs. I was in college at the time, uninsured, so I just carried on. I graduated with honors, but I didn't remember anything I had studied. In fact, my lousy memory is a liability in all areas of life. My husband fills in the gaps, thankfully, but if he disappeared tomorrow so would more than half my life since we met. I hope the doctors highlighted in the article read these comments, since they are having difficulty finding potential subjects who might benefit. Feel free to contact me! I can travel anywhere for a consultation. Thank you!

Does this research also apply to acquired brain injury? Our son survived a deadly stroke in his 20's and is partially locked-in. As you mention in the article, after initial treatment, he has been fairly isolated. We care for him and wait for him to recover on his own, thankful that he survived. This research seems to hold promise for him and others like him. We hope and pray that the research finds support and may one day help our son recover more abilities.

Truly wish there was more funding in these remarkable forms of research where it may solve the accessibility of finding the ideal candidates and so forth. Amazing, the progress they have made in this pilot study. We need more of this. Wish there was more money put in this than pharmaceuticals.

Whenever I see studies like this, I always wonder whether's any applicability to cerebral palsy.

With so many traumatic brain injuries to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, I find it astounding that funding and patients are hard to find. Where is the VA in all this? What does our veteran loving POTUS say about this?

Sadly speaking as a husband of a Parkinson's disease patient for the last 18 years who does not have the dyskensia i.e. the shaking-spastic movements of Parkinson's but rather slow movement and falling and terrible cognitive issues with her PD. I am hoping that we also a develop new DBS implant as this report alludes to for TBI we do so for the "other" PD that which produces a paralysis. So far we have little treatment ,including medications in this later stage of my wife's non shakey form of Parkinson's disease .

I have a relative who suffers from congenital cognitive deficiencies. This relative lives a mostly independent life, is employed, but is reliant on parents and lives at home and likely will for the rest of their life. This relative is also in love with a person they met while attending a college the serves this population. The person is also cognitively impaired, but due to a car accident. The two of them are extremely happy together and plan to marry someday. I wonder, however, if this procedure might be helpful to my relative’s partner. And if so, how increased cognitive function may impact their relationship. As wonderful as the gain would be—and who wouldn’t pursue this procedure if they could—I can’t help but think of the loss that may accompany it. Some readers may recall Flowers for Algernon. Of course, my relative would never stand in the way of their partner’s well-being. But who will stand up for theirs?

Amazing. Hard to understand the lack of funding for further research and testing. Maybe this case will begin to give hope to people with brain injuries and their families.

Very cool. I've also heard that scientists are working on an implant that will translate thoughts into words, for people who cannot speak due to paralysis but can still think. That sounds too amazing to fathom, but the folks at a cerebral palsy nonprofit I'm involved with told me about it.

I wonder if the implant could also be used in diseases such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or MS where patients also experience fatigue and cognitive issues? Also what is the cost of the implant/operation?

Wondering why finding TBI patients is difficult? Beginning part of article notes there are many vets with TBI at VA. What about stroke victims? Seems like its worth exploring?