Could Deep-Brain Stimulation Fortify Soldiers’ Minds?

[clarencebunsen]

Could Deep-Brain Stimulation Fortify Soldiers’ Minds?

As many as 20 percent of war veterans return from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, according to a 2008 report from the RAND Corporation. Many experience constant nightmares and flashbacks and many can’t live normal lives. For significant number of veterans, available medications do not seem to help. In 2010, at least 22 veterans committed suicide each day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. In her book, Demon Camp, the author Jen Percy describes damaged veterans who have even resorted to exorcism to alleviate their PTSD symptoms.

As part of President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative, the federal Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) plans to spend more than $70 million over five years to develop novel devices that would address neurological disorders such as PTSD. DARPA is particularly interested in a technology called Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS). DBS involves inserting a thin electrode through a small opening in the skull into a specific area in the brain; the electrode is then connected by an insulated wire to a battery pack underneath the skin; the battery pack then sends electrical pulses via the wire to the brain.

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DARPA wants to develop the next-generation, deep brain stimulators (call them DBS+) that do not require user input and that can a) read and monitor the brain’s activities in real-time using neural recording, and b) intervene in these activities in an automatic way through electrical stimulation.

DARPA’s officially stated goal is to treat soldiers who have PTSD and other related neurological disorders. However, once DBS+ is developed, theoretically it could also be used to fortify soldiers’ minds. For example, DBS+ could be used to pre-empt PTSD. Suppose that a soldier has just experienced a potentially traumatic event. DBS+ could be used to detect and categorize the emotional reaction in the amygdala. Like tsunami warnings, there could be different categories. If DBS+ detected a Category 4 reaction, it would automatically reduce the activity in the amygdala to a certain degree. If DBS+ detected a Category 5 reaction, it would slow the amygdala to a halt.

blogs.scientificamerican.com/mind-guest-blog/2014/09/04/could-deep-brain-stimulation-fortify-soldiers-minds/

[Clipper]

The advances made in late years with DPS is amazing. My dad had essential tremor. It was so bad that he could not even feed himself or hold a book. After my mom died and he came to live with Kathy and I, we took him over to Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston Salem NC. He had deep brain stimulation surgery. They implanted TWO electrodes into his brain, and ran the wires to a business card sized unit in his chest, and it controlled the hand tremors so that he was able to comfortably eat, read a book, or sign his own checks to pay his bills. I was able to control the intensity of the signal with a hand held computer like unit that I would hold over the unit in his chest. I also had a magnet that was used to turn the unit on and off. I used to shut it off at night in order to save the battery and turn it on in the morning when he got up. It was amazing. He would sit at the table in the morning with his hands shaking uncontrollably, and when I turned the unit on, his hands would immediately stop trembling and he would be able to pick up his spoon and eat his oatmeal, or drink from his coffee cup. He had been drinking his coffee through a straw, from a cup sitting on the table for years, and my mom had fed him and shaved him for several years.

I am always impressed with advances of this kind. When I was in alcohol rehab in 76 I took part in an experiment that involved bio feedback. They were gathering data about the brain activity in the alcoholic brain vs a non alcoholic's brain. The ultimate purpose was to determine if a person's addictions could be controlled through eventual deep brain stimulation. I don't know if they had even reached a point with the technology to actually implant electrodes or develop the stimulator at that time. I think much of it was still simply "theory" and experimental at that point.

[Deleted]

As medical nano technology advances I hope we have some significant breakthroughs. I met a Marine many years ago that was a patient in Veterans Hospital in Syracuse. Served in Vietnam war and was friends with my brother. He was a patient in the psych ward for some treatment for PTSD. He didn't make it though. After treatment when he returned home he killed himself.