Brain implants can help people recover cognitive abilities after injuries – study

Advertising:

Gina Arata became one of the study participants who were given the implant. After the 22-year-old girl experienced a car accident in 2000, she began to feel constantly tired, had problems with memory and could not control her emotions. This forced her to drop out of law school.

18 years after the accident, Gina Arata received an implant. The woman says that it radically changed her life.

“Now I can be a normal person and hold a conversation. It’s amazing how noticeable the improvements are.” she says.

Dr. Schiff and his colleagues have studied the structure of the brain for many years and found that a person’s ability to focus on tasks depends on a network of brain regions that are connected to each other by long branches of neurons. They send signals to each other, creating a feedback loop that keeps the entire network active.

Scientists have suggested that a sudden concussion (during an accident or fall) can break some of the connections in the network. If the brain is severely damaged, it may not fully recover.

Researchers have identified a structure deep within the brain that is an important hub of this network, the central lateral nucleus. This is a thin layer of neurons that are similar in size and shape to the almond shell.

Advertising:

The human brain has two such structures, one in each hemisphere. They help the brain calm down at night and activate it in the morning. Dr. Schiff’s research has shown that stimulating neurons in these areas can wake up a sleeping rat.

These studies have raised the possibility that stimulation of the central lateral nuclei may help people with traumatic brain injuries regain concentration and attention.

In 2018, scientists began to recruit volunteers who had suffered from the consequences of accidents for years. Before the electrodes were implanted, the researchers gave the volunteers a series of tests to assess their ability to focus and switch between tasks.

For example, in one of the exams, people were given sheets of paper with letters and numbers written on them. They had to draw a line connecting them one by one as soon as possible.

After the surgery to install the implants, the volunteers took these tests again – their results increased from 15 to 52%.

Dr. Schiff and his colleagues are planning a much larger study of brain implants, because they have not yet been able to determine the best place for stimulation. They are preparing a study in which they will try to apply electrodes to an area called the pons nucleus.

It will be recalled that earlier research showed that the human brain processes traumatic memories as present experiences.

Read also: What changes in the brain can be caused by stress at an early age – research