Depression is one of the conditions that can interfere with mood and thoughts. Usually, depression is characterized by feelings of deep sadness and a sense of indifference. Those with depression feel anxious, hopeless, lack motivation, and feel guilt or deep remorse. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 300 million people worldwide live with depression.

Due to depression, many of them want to end their lives. They have followed various therapies, counseling, and medication but failed. Scientists and researchers around the world are constantly trying to find new treatments. And now, with the latest scientific research, they found brain implants!

The treatment is using a pacemaker

Researchers and clinicians from the United States at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have developed traditional alternatives to treat depression. This requires a pacemaker explicitly designed for each person. So far, brain implants have been performed on one patient and have had positive results.

One of the first depressed patients had a brain implant. The team of scientists at UCSF implanted a device the size of a cigarette case in his skull with two electrodes implanted in the brain. They monitor neural circuits to detect changes in brain function.

At the same time, others are sending tiny electrical impulses to adjust brain activity. The second electrode serves to relieve the feeling of depression that occurs. The researchers then detected two parts of his brain. 

The first part is called the amygdala, which can detect the symptoms of depression in patients. In this section, the brain will be responsible for the emotions experienced, such as fear and anger.

The second is the part of the ventral capsule where electrical stimulation causes the patient's best mood reactions. In the ventral capsule, the brain will stimulate emotions, motivation to eliminate feelings of depression experienced.

Not all depressions are equal

The method used in these patients was developed using the Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) system. Deep brain stimulation can trigger electrical charges that reset the patient's brain function. Traditionally, such DBS devices were only capable of sending constant electrical impulses to one area of ​​the brain. Not everyone has the same depression. That means the device used is different for each person.

Luckily the method of treatment carried out on the patient was appropriate and successful. The researchers researched their brains for ten days to make adjustments between the device and the patients' depressive symptoms. They placed the electrodes in a different brain location. Until finally, they managed to make a map of the pattern of depression he was experiencing.

This device is not without risk. Electrodes that are attached to the brain can cause bleeding. Apart from that, this breakthrough will continue to grow and be helpful for the future. Two other patients are now enrolled in further brain implant trials.