Defense Department Invests In Brain Implants For Depression, PTSD

More than 100,000 people have electrical stimulation devices implanted in their brains to treat Parkinson's disease. The implants block the abnormal nerve signals that cause Parkinson's symptoms like tremor and stiffness.

Now the Department of Defense is putting up $70 million to develop a new generation of brain implants to target depression and PTSD. These devices would detect and correct abnormal brain activity in real time.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, Carey Goldberg of WBUR met up with the scientists and engineers who are taking on the challenge some call “a moon shot for the mind.”

• Read more on this story via WBUR

Reporter

• Carey Goldberg, health reporter for WBUR and co-host of WBUR's CommonHealth blog. The blog tweets @commonhealth.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.