University of Texas Studying Deep Brain Stimulation for Alzheimer's Patients

The Times Record News reports that researchers at the University of Texas' (UT) Dell Medical School are investigating deep brain stimulation through electrical wires inserted into the brain as a treatment for people with Alzheimer's disease. The team has already used Functional Neuromodulation's device in 42 patients with Alzheimer's, which is now undergoing testing in 210 people in the United States and Europe. Dell Medical School plans to enroll about 10 people in the study, and the institution is looking for people 65 and older with mild Alzheimer's symptoms. Dell Medical School is working with Ascension Seton to implant the devices and with UT Health Austin to monitor participants. The wires to the devices will be positioned near the fornix, which creates the pathway from where information enters and is stored in the brain. The stimulation is thought to help where that pathway might be slowed because of neuron death. "We're trying to make what's good stronger, to reinforce those connections so they don't die away," explained Dell Medical School's Robert Buchanan.