DBS

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a medical device called a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain. It tends to be used only in the medical context for the simple reason that it is highly intrusive and requires expert medical knowledge.  It has been used medically for chronic pain, tremor, and dystonia and experimentally for depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette’s syndrome.  The X-Ray below is from Wikipedia.

A lead of coiled wire insulated in polyurethane with four platinum iridium electrodes is placed in the brain itself.  The lead is connected to an extension, an insulated wire that runs from the head, down the side of the neck, behind the ear to an IPG, an implanted pulse generator, which is a battery-powered neurostimulator encased in a titanium housing, which sends electrical pulses to the brain at the target site.  All three components are surgically implanted inside the body.

Under local anaesthetic, a hole about 14 mm in diameter is drilled in the skull and the electrode is inserted, with feedback from the patient for optimal placement.

The installation of the IPG and lead occurs under general anaesthetic. The right side of the brain is stimulated to address symptoms on the left side of the body and vice versa.  The IPG may be placed subcutaneously below the clavicle or in some cases, the abdomen.

There are some very obvious disadvantages with this technique as a means of getting any form of health benefits and that is the invasive and expensive nature of the procedure and the fact it  requires long-term expert care.  But it is also clear that the medical profession appear to believe that high intensity stimulation is needed, which as has been proven from Russian research is not what is wanted at all.  What works is low intensity signals.

There is also an indication that despite using this intrusive technique, the medical profession [in the USA at least] appear not to understand how it works, which must give some cause for concern.  Their targeting appears to be highly suspect,  producing “apathy, compulsive gambling, hypersexuality, cognitive dysfunction, depression,  decline in executive function, and problems with word generation, attention and learning”. It has also provoked a suicide attempt. The electrodes can become displaced or dislodged leading to “profound complications such as personality changes”. There may also be complications of surgery, such as “bleeding within the brain, swelling of the brain tissue, and disorientation”.