Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is the use of a pacemaker-like device implanted in the brain to treat the symptoms of diseases like Parkinson’s, or other maladies such as depression. For the first time in the US, surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland have used this technique to attempt to slow memory loss in a patient suffering from the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Back in 2010, a safety study in Canada showed that patients with this device showed increased glucose metabolism over thirteen months while untreated patients suffered decreased glucose metabolism. While this new trial only has one patient so far, the second will be receiving the implant this month. It’s not just Johns Hopkins, though. The University of Toronto, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Florida, and Banner Health System will all be implanting these so-called pacemakers into roughly forty patients over the next year. In the news release, it is explained that after recent drug trials failed to prevent the build-up of the degenerative beta amyloid plaques, the research team has been focused on using alternative methods of slowing the progression of the disease. This study clearly has a lot riding on it.

The fornix, a vital part of the brain that brings data to the hippocampus, is being targeted with this device. Essentially, the fornix is the area of the brain that converts electrical activity into chemical activity. Holes are drilled into the skull, and wires are placed on both sides of the brain. Then, the stimulator device pumps in small and unnoticeable electrical impulses upwards of 130 times per second. Half of the patients will begin the electrical treatment two weeks post-surgery, but the other half won’t have their pacemakers turned on until a full year after the surgery to provide comparison data for the study.

While the researchers are hopeful that the deep brain stimulation will be an effective tool to treat Alzheimer’s disease directly, that isn’t the end-game. Even if these studies don’t work out as planned, it will provide better information for these researchers to develop better and less-invasive treatments going forward. It’s important to note that this is in no way meant to cure Alzheimer’s disease. However, stimulating the areas of the brain that aren’t damaged yet will hopefully drastically slow the loss of memory associated with the disease.

Millions of people suffer from this debilitating disease, and that number is expected to triple in the next few decades. This study, and studies like it, are vitally important to developing effective treatments and hopefully a cure some day. If you’re interested in participating in the study, you can volunteer directly on John Hopkins’ website.

Now read: Curing depression and super-charging cranial capacity with deep brain stimulation

[Image credit: Jean-Etienne Minh-Duy Poirrier & Aigars Mahinovs]