Alzheimer's & Deep Brain Stimulation

Surgeons were performing deep brain simulation on a man in hopes of controlling the regulation of his appetite. While performing the operation they at one point applied deep brain stimulation on the implanted electrodes and the patient recalled detailed memory from decades ago. With more stimulation, he remembered more details. The electrode contacts that induced the memories were in the hypothalamus close to the fornix, a bundle of fibers that signal the limbic system. Weeks after the hypothalamus stimulation the patient scored higher on learning tests. The patient was also tested and shown to remember unrelated paired objects while being stimulated rather than not being stimulated.

I think this is very exciting news, and it shows how much there still is to learn about the brain. This is definitely brings forth the possibility for a new treatment direction for Alzheimer’s disease. Also it could eventually be used for people with amnesia or other memory loss issues. This may also bring to light research on how else to stimulate this region besides the use of electrodes. Another way of stimulation may be more effective. It will be interesting to see how long the increased memory lasts without continual stimulation. Also, as it said that he could remember more “unrelated paired objects” while he was stimulated, it may someday make non-impaired memory people want to undergo treatment to get ahead or have a superhuman memory.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=4217967
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/95762.php
Original published Article: "Memory Enhancement Induced by Hypothalamic/Fornix Deep Brain Stimulation," Clement Hamani, Mary Pat McAndrews, Melanie Cohn, Michael Oh, Dominik Zumsteg, Colin M. Shapiro, Richard A. Wennberg, Andres M. Lozano, Annals of Neurology, January 2008.