Deep Brain Stimulation

Surgeons drill into a patient's skull, insert electrodes into specific brain regions, and send electrical pulses from a battery implanted in the chest — while the patient is awake. The result: Parkinson's tremors stop instantly. Depression lifts in treatment-resistant patients. OCD symptoms diminish. Over 160,000 people worldwide have DBS implants. The footage of a Parkinson's patient going from uncontrollable shaking to perfectly still the moment the device activates looks like a magic trick. It's not. It's 21st-century neuroscience.