The finding that stimulation of the brain with implanted electrodes can trigger memory has been a major news item for the last few days. A patient undergoing experimental deep-brain stimulation to try to treat his life-threatening obesity recalled an old memory. The triggering of memories by implanted electrodes is not new, but it was unexpected that the area of the brain that was stimulated would be involved in memory. The finding has led to the start of tests of patients with early Alzheimer’s to see if deep-brain stimulation can help with memory.

Deep-brain stimulation has already been used for Parkinson’s and is being tried for some psychiatric disorders. For Alzheimer’s sufferers is not clear how much of this new research direction is hype, how much is wishful thinking and how much will have real benefit in the immediate future. The press gets hold of biomedical preliminary findings and raises huge expectations for a cure in the next few years. Part of the problem with this type of brain research is the fact that you can’t go sticking electrodes into people’s brain willy-nilly. Since so little is known about Alzheimer’s, it could take quite a long time to find any area that benefits sufferers.

Alzheimer’s is such an awful disease, I feel so sad when I think about the people I know who have Alzheimer’s and those who have died. Hopefully deep-brain stimulation will be one way to slow the incapacitation and make life better.

[tags]Alzheimer’s, brain, electrodes, memory[/tags]