Eternity RPC Board
02-10-2017, 10:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-10-2017, 11:10 PM by Zabuza825.
Edit Reason: I'm being a grammar-nazi
)
There are several differences between deep brain stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy (I had to do a paper on this in high school, so I have some basic knowledge, but for the record I'm not an expert on this and there are people who are more knowledgeable than me on this).
Deep brain stimulation involves using controlled electrical bursts to specific parts of the brain to achieve the desired results.
Electroconvulsive therapy involves the use of electric shocks to the brain to induce seizures, with the idea to be to "reset" the brain to a "normal" state.
So what are the differences?
Just wanted to put those differences out there. The general idea could work in theory, but in real life we don't know enough about the brain to be able to control someones actions through a method like this one. That said, there are scientists who are working on it (perhaps terrifyingly). We've actually gotten to the point where we are able to control the actions of laboratory mice (click here for source). That said, I do want to point out that the human brain is much more complicated than a mouse's brain, and it will still take quite a long time for this to work.
Anyway, this just seems like a logical (though unethical) extension of the technology behind deep brain stimulation. I only have one issue with the way it's described here, and that's the placement of the battery.
In the implants used for deep brain stimulation, the battery is places outside of the skull, usually in the abdomen. This is probably because if you want the treatment to be able to be administered long-term, you'd need to do it without hooking your body up to a plug every day, and long-lasting batteries generally don't fit into the human skull. But really, that's the only problem I can think of when it comes to the actual application of this as described.
Deep brain stimulation involves using controlled electrical bursts to specific parts of the brain to achieve the desired results.
Electroconvulsive therapy involves the use of electric shocks to the brain to induce seizures, with the idea to be to "reset" the brain to a "normal" state.
So what are the differences?
- Electroconvulsive therapy induces seizures, deep brain stimulation does not.
- Deep brain stimulation involves controlled and targeted electrical bursts, electroconvulsive therapy also has controlled electrical bursts but the target is the entire brain rather than specific parts of it.
- The effects of deep brain stimulation are usually reversible, electroconvulsive therapy isn't always reversible.
Just wanted to put those differences out there. The general idea could work in theory, but in real life we don't know enough about the brain to be able to control someones actions through a method like this one. That said, there are scientists who are working on it (perhaps terrifyingly). We've actually gotten to the point where we are able to control the actions of laboratory mice (click here for source). That said, I do want to point out that the human brain is much more complicated than a mouse's brain, and it will still take quite a long time for this to work.
Anyway, this just seems like a logical (though unethical) extension of the technology behind deep brain stimulation. I only have one issue with the way it's described here, and that's the placement of the battery.
In the implants used for deep brain stimulation, the battery is places outside of the skull, usually in the abdomen. This is probably because if you want the treatment to be able to be administered long-term, you'd need to do it without hooking your body up to a plug every day, and long-lasting batteries generally don't fit into the human skull. But really, that's the only problem I can think of when it comes to the actual application of this as described.