Engineers of Michigan University have designed a new head piece that can be used in a brain simulation technique for the treatment of depression cases. Head piece consists of a square array of 64 circular metallic coils that could help researchers and doctors to concentrate more on the targets on brain much more finer than they can reach today.
In this technique, special coils create a fluctuating magnetic field that then generates a weak electrical field that can travel through the scalp and skull non non-invasively. The electrical signal activates neurons in targeted parts of the brain- a complex electrical network itself. It can send signal only 2cms into the brain that causes contractions.
Still researches are going on about how this technique helps in depression. Its means how this technique effect the brain. But in most of the studies with patients, this technique have already shown severe changes in depression.
"That improvement isn't marginal," said co-author Eric Michielssen, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science. "This should open up a lot of opportunities to treat depression and other mental illness, as well as probe the brain."
This technique can also help the researchers in neuroscience field to study how brain biology leads to thoughts and actions. For eg: a neuroscientist can use it to activate regions of the brain through to be responsible for hand movement and then watch for a hand response to confirm the hypothesis. Luis Gomez, a doctoral student in electrical engineering and computer science, says, "Our coils will enable neuroscientists to further understand brain function by achieving a finer resolution and stimulating regions deeper in the brain." He also said, "it could help us figure out which way information flows inside neural networks, and ultimately understand how the brain works."
We can see a lot of advancements in this research in near future.
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| The heap piece, a square array of 64 circular metallic coils |
You can read more on : ieeeexplore
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