Posted on 05/26/2007 10:38:57 AM PDT by Renfield
Scientists in New York promoted the growth of new neurons in the brains of mice using a magnetic stimulus in the region associated with memory.
Presenting the results at the American Academy for Neuroscience conference, the researchers said the results may lead to treatments for Alzheimer's.
However, if proven the technique is more likely to be a way of slowing progression of the disease than a cure.
Experts said the work was encouraging but would need to be replicated in humans.
Trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to treat certain disorders, including depression and schizophrenia and to rehabilitate people after stroke.
It used a magnetic coil to introduce electrical fields in the brain, which activates or deactivates groups of neurons.
To look at the effect of TMS on growth of neurons, Dr Fortunato Battaglia and Dr Hoau-Yan Wang at City University in New York, gave mice the therapy for five days and then examined their brains, New Scientist magazine reported.
They found large increases in the proliferation of stem cells - immature cells that go on to develop into nerves and other kinds of tissue - in a part of the brain called the dentate gyrus hippocampus.
These cells divide throughout life and are believed to play a crucial role in memory and mood regulation.
In particular they found one receptor in the cells was activated.
A subsequent study which is due to be published shortly showed that the activity of this receptor declines in mice and humans with Alzheimer's disease.
Brain recovery
Taking the two studies together, Dr Battaglia said there were important implications for neurorehabilitation.
"When you have a stroke there is an area that is damaged and there are several ways your brain can recover.
"One is that the area which is not damaged will have to work more and it's that we can promote with brain stimulation."
He added that the hippocampus is much deeper in the brains of humans so it would be important to make sure the technique could produce the same effect as in mice.
"But it might improve symptoms or delay progression of things like Alzheimer's disease," he added.
Professor Vincent Walsh from the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London said the findings were a good first step.
"There are lots of examples of TMS enhancing function in some way but we have never been able to explain the mechanics of how it might work.
"The work is particularly encouraging for the use of brain stimulation in chronic disease such as stroke and dementia.
"The challenge now is to find ways of combining stimulation with drug therapies."
Professor Clive Ballard, director of research at the Alzheimer's Society said: "This is a potentially interesting piece of work, but is a preliminary study in mice.
"Further research is now needed before we can find out if TMS is a useful treatment approach for Alzheimer's disease in humans."
Time to stick Jimmah’s head in an MRI machine for a few days,this research supports it!
I’ll believe it when they film mice successfully parallel parking at the senior center...
In 4 out of 5 studies, the mice thought the magnet was the brake pedal, instead of the brake.
Perhaps there were “large increases in the proliferation of stem cells” because the magnets fried their brains, and they were trying to grow new ones.
How about the magnets for treating your drinking water?
Well, I bet the same polarizing principle is at work here, and works just as well as my two cited examples....
OTOH, there's a magnet in my pillow speaker, and I still haven't been able to figure out Bush's insanity on illegal aliens.
those tin foil hat guys were on to something, they just had to magnetize the foil
Oh good, I can stop wearing my magic metal bracelet.
I pounded some magnetized nails into my skull, and I really learned a lot from that!
Basically a TMS stimulator is a bank of High-Voltage capacitors repeatedly charged and then dumped into a small coil of 1 inch or so. The coil has only a few turns and thus the amperage is astronomical! Run ohms law on 2000+ V dumped into a small coil with only a tiny fraction of an ohm resistance! The magnetic pulses are stronger than the static field created by an MRI machine...several Tesla! A pulse of this magnitude induces a current into the tissue it passes through.
The device is actually VERY simple in design...only a few parts but the currents involved make experimenting with one a dangerous hobby....for a tiny fraction of a second the current pulse through the coil is enough to power a small city.
The coils are sometimes kept cool with a flow of oil.
They are usually made of a very stiff silver/copper conductor...VERY hard to wind into a coil.
Capacitors designed for the starting of large motors are suitable for these devices.
The solid state switching device is the most expensive component.
The collapsing magnetic field is usually used to re-charge the caps...this allows you to power the unit from an ordinary 120v ac outlet.
I hadn’t realized that they were using such huge current loads. It reminds one of the electro-shock therapy that used to be used on severely depressant patients, doesn’t it?
What would be the result of a more moderate load—say, 110V at 20 amps—applied over a longer period of time?
I haven’t read this article, this is my way of bumping for later reading on something that looks interesting & might be suitable for your not-a-ping list
110v pulsed to a small coil with a resistance that would cause 20 amps to flow would be very weak compared to normal transcranial field strength. There are researchers working with low strength pulses but in areas far removed from what is referenced in this article. If you hold a TMS stimulator coil against your head at the spot where the speech center is directly beneath it you suddenly cannot speak. Weak pulses cannot cause an effect such as this.
...you can sell them and use the money to buy a book.
“those tin foil hat guys were on to something, they just had to magnetize the foil”
When you figure out a way to magnetize ALUMINUM....I want IN on the first offering......!!!
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