There are over 1.4 million brain injury victims in the United States every year. What if a percentage of those individuals could aided by stimulation to the area of the brain that has been damaged. Well, that is exactly what a team of researchers in Tel Aviv are attempting to do.
The scientist are trying to alleviate the effects of disorders like depression and Parkinson’s disease by stimulating certain areas of the brain with a computer chip. The problem, however, is that if an area of the brain that is damaged or injured is over-stimulated the therapeutic benefits are lost.
But the research is exciting and could potentially have a wide range of applications including traumatic brain injuries.
The methodology of the research is pretty straight forward, according to Science Daily. The team records brain activity with electrodes in order to determine the damaged or diseased areas of the brain. Then you analyze this activity and use a chip, which is hooked up to the electrodes, to simulate healthy neuronal activity and feed that in electronic signal back into the brain.
Currently the focus of the research is on the rehabilitation of motor-leaning functions. Thus, this research could lead scientist to learn how to use the chip to restore lost functions of the brain after a traumatic brain injury from a car accident or stroke.
