For years, deep-brain stimulation—in which a neurosurgeon drills
a hole in the skull and inserts an electrode far into a
patient’s brain tissue—was considered a radical treatment,
reserved for the most severe cases of Parkinson’s disease. Now
neurologists are exploring the treatment for disorders ranging
from depression to Alzheimer’s disease. In 2009 two clinical
trials began testing deep-brain stimulation (DBS) to ease
intractable depression. The process was given a green light by
the Food and Drug Administration to treat the worst cases of
obsessive-compulsive disorder after a small pilot study showed
promising results. Mount Sinai School of Medicine neurologist
Giulio Pasinetti is in the early stages of testing DBS for
Alzheimer’s disease, and neurosurgeon Bomin Sun of the Center of
Functional Neurosurgery at Shanghai Jiao Tong University is
harnessing it to treat anorexia. Across a range of disorders,
deep-brain stimulation works much the same way: A pacemaker-like
device in the chest transmits a signal