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Illnesses that reside in the brain often are caused by cells that are weak or dormant. Treating the conditions with drugs, light, sound, and electrodes implanted deep in the brain often are only partly successful and carry risks.
At University College London, neuroscientists have developed tiny magnetic particles that could work more reliably.
Metal particles as big as three ten-thousandths of an inch are injected into the brain in areas where cells are to be stimulated to amplify or quiet their signals.
The particles are coated with an antibody that binds them to astrocytes, cells between neurons and the brain’s blood vessels that activate or moderate brain circuitry. Astrocytes are sensitive to touch.
When a micromagnetic pulse stimulates the particles, they press on the astrocytes, which, in turn, stimulate the neurons.
The technique’s early applications could include stimulating neurons to produce dopamine to ease symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease or serotonin to treat depression.
TRENDPOST: While the technology shows obvious therapeutic benefits, it also offers a tool that invites misuse. Although medical science has stronger ethical guardrails in place than other technologies generally do, new strictures will need to be created and enforced to govern activating or deactivating brain patterns at will.