Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital claim to have improved specific functions of the brain using artificial intelligence and electrical brain stimulation.
The scientists found that stimulation of brain areas with low amounts of electricity can improve mental function in 12 epilepsy patients.
To track seizures and record neural activity, hundreds of electrodes are placed in different areas of the brain.
All of this data was used by the researchers to pinpoint the area of the brain they believe is responsible cognitive control. It is the brain region that allows us to switch our attention between tasks.
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If it is effective, it could be a revolutionary treatment for people with mental illness. Although the results of the human studies are encouraging, researchers still have much to prove the effectiveness or necessity of this severe medical intervention.
Alik Widge, a University of Minnesota Medical School assistant professor of psychology, stated that the stimulation had the goal of getting patients back in control and giving them a sense of agency. He was also coauthor of a paper on the research published in Nature Biomedical Engineering earlier in the week in a statement.
Widge said that a person suffering from depression might be one example. It is a key component of mental illness and could be treated with a new treatment.
The machine learning algorithm was used to help the team identify the control abilities of the patients based on their brain activity and their actions.
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Widge stated that the system can detect brain activity and decode it to determine when a patient has difficulty. Then, it will apply small amounts of electrical stimulation to the brain in order to help them overcome that difficulty.
He said that an electric bike is an analogy that I use often. The bike detects difficulty and will augment it if someone is pedaling. The same thing has been done for mental function.
Participants reported feeling less anxious after the system kicked in, mainly because they had better cognitive control and could shift their focus more easily.
Widge stated that this could be a completely new approach to treating mental illness. Instead of suppressing symptoms, we could offer patients tools that allow them to take control of their minds.
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READ MORE: Brain stimulation helps improve mental function [University of Minnesota Medical School]
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