According to a study conducted on mice, an electric shock to the brain can prevent symptoms of dementia up to 20 years before they appear. This was reported by daily mail.
Israeli researchers analyzed changes in the brain during sleep in rodents. To do this, they were put into medicated sleep. They found that during sleep, mice exhibited “silent seizures” in the hippocampus that looked like seizures on brain scans but did not cause any outward symptoms. However, hippocampal activity was reduced during sleep in healthy mice. This area of the brain plays a central role in the formation of memories.
To prevent this excessive activity, the team used deep brain stimulation. For this, they performed an operation to place electrodes in certain parts of the brain. These electrodes are connected by wires to a device located under the skin near the chest area.
Using high frequencies to electrically stimulate the brain caused more cell damage. But lower frequencies were able to suppress “silent seizures” in mice and prevent cognitive impairment.
Scientists believe that similar changes are observed in the brain 10-20 years before the onset of dementia symptoms in people. They hope that electrical stimulation of the brain at this stage of the disease could prevent cognitive impairment. The authors plan to conduct clinical trials on humans.
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