Thursday 31 January 2008

Take me back

Electrical stimulation of areas deep within the brain could improve memory, early research suggests.
A team of doctors in Canada stumbled upon the finding while attempting to treat a morbidly obese man through deep brain stimulation (DBS).
When stimulated, the man had very clear deja vu. He then had a sudden perception of being in a park with friends. He felt younger, thought he was around 20-years-old, and his girlfriend of the time was there. He was an observer, and saw the scene in colour.
Whilst this was being used experimentally for obesity, it is thought it will have wider applications including Alzheimer's. With the number of people with Alzheimer's forecast to double within a generation, we urgently need to find ways to tackle this awful disease, but research is hugely under-funded.
Well, I'm all for deep stimulation - nudge nudge wink wink. Especially if it brings back former girlfriends who are rather thin on the ground right now.Actually, memories of things long past is something I'm pretty good at rather than faulty or absent short term memory. I can get colours and sounds but not smells. Given Korea and Hong Kong as they were then, this no smell might be a blessing in disguise.


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