NEW BRAIN STIMULATION TECHNIQUE TO TREAT CERTAIN NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine are working on a noninvasive brain stimulation technology to treat pain, traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and other neurological illnesses.

When someone suffers a brain injury, nerve injury, or neurodegeneration, such as epilepsy and TBI, the brain is damaged, which can result in nerve or neuron loss or damage, as well as the development of hyperexcitability, which underpins some neurological disorders such as neuropathic pain and epilepsy.

The conventional treatment primarily inhibits such hyperexcitability. Now it is discovered that the initial damage to the brain or nerve system was caused by a loss of brain tissue, which causes the nervous system to compensate for loss of function by working harder, so we need to stimulate activity rather than inhibit it.

The method employs a novel form of magnetoelectric nanoparticle that can be delivered to a specific area of the brain via a magnetic field. A magnetic wave can then be released to activate neuronal activity in that area of the brain. The approach is noninvasive, effective at stimulating deep brain function, and less intrusive than typical brain stimulation procedures. It also eliminates the need for genetic manipulation.