electric Happiness - Deep Brain Stimulation

By Lucy Heavens


In 1948 Maurice Rapport of the Cleveland Clinic discovered an important neurotransmitter and named it serotonin. Since then we have been searching for ways to reproduce this 'happiness', from 'mothers little helper' to electroconvulsive therapy. Now sixty years later, at that same Cleveland Clinic, astonishing advancements are being made in treatment of depression. An electrode in your brain to make you happy.


Researchers noticed that neural activity in parts of the brain correlate with symptoms of sadness and depression. Consequently, the Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) implant was created. The implant consists of three components; the electrode placed in the brain, a generator implanted beneath the collarbone, and a lead placed under the skin to connect them. Electric impulses are sent from the generator to the stimulator to interrupt neural activity at the target site. Because it is a permanent device, the DBS has been called the 'brain pacemaker'.


First a titanium halo is bolted to the skull so that doctors can image the brain with minimal movement. Two coin-size holes are then drilled in the skull, and the implants, wires similar to fishing line, are inserted through the holes. Because so few pain receptors are located in the brain, only local anesthetic is needed and patients are awake during the procedure.


As electric currents are activated, four out of six patients report a feeling a black cloud lifting, a desire to smile, faces become brighter and they become more alert and interested in their environment. The changes are reversed when the current is switched off. After surgery current levels can be controlled remotely by a doctor.


Researchers have reported that electrical stimulation of the frontal cortex brings about a "striking and sustained remission" in patients suffering from clinical depression, whose symptoms had previously been resistant to medication, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy.


Clinical depression is notoriously difficult to handle. Many do not respond to drugs or develop resistance to them. ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) can be very effective, but now DBS implants make it possible to direct a lesser electric current more accurately into the brain.


Throughout the past ten years the implant has been used to combat traumatic brain injuries a host of movement disorders such as Parkinson's. But now FDA (Food and Drug Administration) tests in the US are underway to approve its use with clinically depressed patients.