Electrodes implanted in the brain were known to release impulses that may “normalise” overactive connections within a specific circuit of the organ, but researchers were previously unsure whether the treatment offered long-term relief from severe depression
Deep brain stimulation involves implanting electrodes in the brain’s cerebral lobes. These are linked through the scalp to wires that lead to a battery implanted below the skin, which sends electrical impulses to specific areas of the brain
ALFRED PASIEKA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Electrodes implanted deep inside the brain may provide considerable relief for just under half of people with the most severe depression for up to nine years, according to one of the longest-running clinical trials of its kind.
“They’ve taken the sickest of the sick and made almost half of them better, which is …