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A Brain ‘Pacemaker’ Could Be in Your Future If You Have This Common Condition

It already helps with Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

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Pacemakers are little gizmos that are implanted under the skin in the chest that deliver small electrical pulses to keep your heart beating. But what if you could put one in your brain that makes you happy when you’re depressed? Or, at least, less depressed?

According to new research published in Nature Neuroscience by scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, that fanciful idea might one day be a reality.

Researchers are revisiting an old idea called deep brain stimulation, or DBS, which is already used to help soften the blow of Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Employing the same strategies, the treatment involves implanting electrodes in specific........

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