Shock, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is a method of acting on the brain of patients using an electric current. It can provide relief for people with severe depression who are not helped by other treatments. ECT has been used since 1938 and is a relatively safe and effective intervention. As you can see, the idea of electrical effects on the brain is not new, but things are taking exciting turns.
Neural implants
Are you ready to upgrade your biological operating system by connecting technology directly to your brain? The idea of neural implantation is not new either. Dr. William House surgically inserted the first cochlear implant in 1961. They laughed at him, considering it fantastic. However, thousands of previously deaf patients around the world have gained hearing thanks to his invention.
Neural implants are also used for Parkinson's disease. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been used to treat this neurological disorder for several years. The procedure is performed by neurosurgeons - through microscopic punctures in the skull, doctors implant the thinnest electrodes into the brain. Numerous studies confirm that the method relieves symptoms and improves quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease.
Since then, DBS has been tested for its effectiveness in treating chronic pain, substance abuse, obesity, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's syndrome.
The procedure allows you to influence specific parts of the brain with a microimpulse of electric current in order to change their work. Thus, deep stimulation helps doctors achieve some improvements in the treatment of diseases that were previously considered hopeless.
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What will happen next?
Since the 1970s, researchers have been working on the brain-computer interface (BCI). Unlike neural implants, which simply send electrical impulses into the skull, BCI offers tremendous opportunities. Your brain will be able to send and receive information not through your eyes, ears or fingers, but through a direct electrical connection. Imagine plugging it directly into your computer!
Researchers at the University of Southern California have already tested a brain implant to improve long-term memory.
They plan to use it to treat patients who have received amnesia as a result of traumatic brain injury. This is the start of a fantastic "memory prosthesis" project!
In the near future, the human nervous system and the computer will exist in symbiosis
Public and private research laboratories in the US are working on a "brain modem" that will have a very high connection speed between the brain and electronic devices. It will help heal any disease, from blindness to paralysis.
Paradromics is working on a direct connection to the speech center of the brain to decode words that a person is just about to pronounce. Elon Musk recently announced funding for Neuralink, a brain-computer interface company. Then Facebook announced that they are working on a "mind-text" device that will allow us to silently write messages and emails just by thinking about it!
Our thoughts will turn into teams to manage technology, and it will be a new world with completely different possibilities.
And here you can read about a detailed series of articles about Neuralink by Elon Musk.
Yulia Sytina