Brain Tech Is Here and Not as Creepy as You Think
A penny-sized chip implanted just above the skull helped treat one man’s depression.
A middle-aged man who works in emergency services in the US had been battling depression and suicidal thoughts for 17 years, unable to sleep most nights and leaving his wife and teen daughter walking on eggshells because of his irritability, before he opted for a shot in the dark. Researchers at Washington University asked if he’d participate in a study on a brain implant that could, maybe, treat the condition. Eric, who requested a pseudonym to protect his identity in talking with me, jumped at the chance. He only got nervous two days before his surgery. “It occurred to me I’m getting something implanted very close to my brain,” he remembers.
This month marks a year since Eric became one of the first humans to trial the chip, developed by Inner Cosmos, a startup in Scotts Valley, California, near Santa Cruz. The results are promising. Over the last six months his MADRS scores, which measure the severity of depression, have dropped, suggesting he’s now in remission. Even his family has noticed the change, Eric told me in his first interview since having the chip implanted.