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Happiness Is A Warm Electrode

Posted by Zonk on from the everything-looks-so-vivid dept.

sufijazz writes "A story by Gregory Mone on the Popular Science website talks about trials to use deep brain stimulation to cure chronic depression. It's a deeper exploration of the 'brain pacemaker' discussed here on the site before, and a practical application of research discussed even earlier. Why the pulses affect mood is still unclear, but scientists believe that they may facilitate chemical communication between brain cells, possibly by forcing ions through nerve fibers called axons. In turn, this may trigger the release of mood-regulating chemicals like serotonin and norepinephrine. Similar trials are being conducted in other places. Exact numbers are hard to ascertain, but it's estimated that fewer than 50 patients in North America are walking around with wires in their brain."

8 of 199 comments (clear)

  1. sounds familiar by User+956 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why the pulses affect mood is still unclear, but scientists believe that they may facilitate chemical communication between brain cells, possibly by forcing ions through nerve fibers called axons.

    Isn't that the same way World of Warcraft works?

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  2. it's both by User+956 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Happiness Is A Warm Electrode

    Hmm, I always thought that happiness was a warm gun.

    It's actually both, which means, logically, that happiness is a taser.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  3. heh. by apodyopsis · · Score: 4, Funny

    the rise of the wirehead!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirehead

  4. Let the probing begin! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I know why I've been happier since I was abducted. Oh wait, this is about a brain probe...

  5. Citizen by Colin+Smith · · Score: 4, Funny

    "You are now a class three citizen, your happiness level will be raised accordingly."

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    Deleted
  6. Re:Happiness is a Warm Gun by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, I've always liked the Russian answer to happiness:
    "You come home from work, are sitting in your broken-down chair reading Pravda, when three men in badly-fitting suits knock on your door.
    'Mr Voyslatovich?'
    'No, he lives 3 floors up.'"

    --
    I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
  7. Well, if we're just limiting it to reality... by unitron · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...it's estimated that fewer than 50 patients in North America are walking around with wires in their brain."

    Yeah, but I bet there's a much bigger number who think that they are!

    --

    I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

  8. Forbidden in Alabama? by kanweg · · Score: 2, Funny

    I presume that women are not allowed to have such wires in Alabama.

    http://sexinthepublicsquare.wordpress.com/2007/02/15/q-when-is-a-vibrator-more-dangerous-than-a-gun/

    Bert
    Who still wonders how Americans can sing about "home of the free"