New treatment for depression

[smokey the elder]

I agree. I think with the new functional MRI and other brain imaging techniques, medicine might finally be able to get a grip on mental illness, its causes, and specific drug targets to treat it. Electrode implants have been used now for several indications, but they are a last resort as they are in fact brain surgery!

On the "abuse" angle, a book came out almost 40 years ago called The Terminal Man by Michael Crichton: VERY far ahead of its time!

[Miss Z]

I find this area of research very interesting, particularly as it seems to be so effective. It would appear that side-effects are virtually non-existent, when the surgery is done correctly, due to the purely electrical stimulation of the nervous tissue. That sure beats the often debilitating side-effects of some anti-depressant drugs on the market right now. I hope it brings new life to many people around the world.

As far as back-street surgery goes, that kinda reminded me of 'caveman brain surgery'. Homo sapiens were, apparently, probing around in brains regardless of necessity for thousands of years. I personally don't believe this story will revive the trade.

I know what I'd be more worried about - brain control. There's a video (probably on the 'net, somewhere) made by some optogenetic researchers that depicts a mouse with a chip in its brain. The chip emits blue light on demand via remote control, causing it to run around against its own will. An unnerving thought...