Brain Implications of Depression Have Been Tested in Humans

The latest computer technology can help people recover depression. Motif Neurotech announced on Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a human study to test the growth of the company’s blueberry extract. the brain an implant that sits in the skull and provides electrical energy to heal it depression.

The Houston-based startup, set to launch in 2022, is part of a company pursuing technology to read and interpret brain signals. While other companies are researching similar technology, like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Paradromicsand Connectionsdeveloping devices to help people with disabilities communicate and use computers, Motif aims to reduce depression in people who have never benefited from medication.

The company’s device is implanted in the skull above the dura, the membrane that protects the brain. It looks at the central nervous system, the part of the brain that is responsible for high and low functioning in major depressive disorder. The implant produces certain types of stimulation to “turn on” this network.

The Motif device allows patients to receive medical treatment at home. “Through frequent electrical stimulation, we think we can drive neuroplasticity that creates stronger connections within the central nervous system in patients with anxiety, so they can wake up in the morning, call their friends, go to the gym,” says Jacob Robinson, founder and CEO of Motif.

Courtesy of Motif

Electrical stimulation has been used for decades in the treatment of depression, and the Motif method is a recent iteration. Electroconvulsive or “shock” therapy began in the 1930s and is still used today when patients do not respond to antidepressants. Deep brain stimulation, which involves placing electrodes in the brain, is sometimes used experimentally but is not approved by the FDA. A less invasive form of stimulation known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, was approved in 2008. Although it can be very effective, it requires a long course of five treatments a week for six weeks.

A scholarship from 2021 found that within 12 months in the United States, approximately 9 million adults were receiving treatment for major depression, and of those, approximately 3 million were considered treatment-resistant, when symptoms do not improve after at least two, and often, antidepressants.

The Motif device can be implanted in 20 minutes of surgery without the need for brain surgery. It is powered by wireless electrical technology that Robinson developed while at Rice University and is attached to a baseball cap that patients wear when receiving stimulation.