Alzheimer’s researchers study impact of electrodes planted deep in brains
Toronto scientists test whether noodle-thin metal rods buried beneath the cortex can jolt memories and repair faulty nerve circuits
Carolyn Abraham
A team of Toronto scientists is pushing Alzheimer’s research in a radical new direction – testing whether electrodes implanted in patients’ brains can jolt their memories into good working order.
The procedure, known as Deep Brain Stimulation, aims to repair faulty nerve circuits with steady electrical pulses from two noodle-thin metal rods buried beneath the cortex. It is most often used to treat chronic pain, Parkinson’s disease and in research against intractable depression.
But at the University Health Network – after an intense 18-month ethics review – researchers have performed DBS as an experimental brain surgery on six men and women in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
The small, world-first trial – published Wednesday in the Annals of Neurology – found DBS is a relatively safe procedure for people with Alzheimer’s, which affects about 500,000 Canadians. But no one knows yet if it will also prove to be an effective one. After a year of stimulation, two patients deteriorated, two showed no change, while two improved.
Exactly how or why electricity might bolster a brain struck with Alzheimer’s, however, is as mysterious as the disease itself – which after more than 100 years of study, still defies explanation. But the Toronto research team feels the phase-one results are promising enough to pursue a phase-two study, and now hopes to find funding to test DBS in another 50 early Alzheimer’s patients.
“This has to be pursued to find out if it is valuable or not,” said Dr. Andres Lozano, the neurosurgeon and senior scientist who led the study at Toronto Western Hospital. “It’s not more of the same, it’s a very bold, aggressive approach that seems reasonably safe.”
SOURCE: www.theglobeandmail.com
