1. SCIENCELITERACY
ARTICLE12- forFebruary3,2012
Electrical Stimulation of Brain Boosts Birth of New Cells: Animal Study Suggests Deep
Brain Stimulation Improves Memory
ScienceDaily(Sep.20,2011)—
Stimulatingaspecificregionofthebrainleadstotheproductionofnewbraincellsthatenhancememory,accordi
ngtoananimalstudyintheSeptember21issueofTheJournalofNeuroscience.Thefindingsshowhowdeepbrain
stimulation(DBS)--aclinicalinterventionthatdeliverselectricalpulsestotargetedareasofthebrain—
mayworktoimprovecognition.
"DBShasbeenquiteeffectiveforthetreatmentofmovementdisorders,suchasParkinson'sdisease,andhasrece
ntlybeenexploredfortreatmentofarangeofneurologicandpsychiatricconditions,"saidPaulFrankland,PhD,of
TheHospitalforSickChildren(SickKids),seniorauthorofthestudy."These new findings have important
clinical implications as they inform potential treatments for humans with memory disorders."
Throughoutlife,newcellsareborninpartsofthehippocampus,thebrain'slearningandmemorycenter.Inthene
wstudy,Franklandandhiscolleaguesfoundthatonehourofelectricalstimulationtotheentorhinalcortex--
aregionthatdirectlycommunicateswiththehippocampus--inadultmiceledtoatwo-
foldincreaseinnewcellsinthehippocampus.Althoughtheburstofnewcellslastedforonlyaboutoneweek,thec
ellsproducedduringthistimewindowdevelopednormallyandmadeconnectionswithothernearbybraincells