A Brain Implant for Depression Is About to Be Tested in Humans
Key takeaways
- The Houston-based startup, founded in 2022, is part of a budding industry pursuing technology to read and interpret brain signals.
- The company’s device is implanted in the skull just above the dura, the brain’s protective membrane.
- Motif’s device would allow patients to receive therapeutic brain stimulation at home.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Courtesy of Motif Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story. The latest brain-computer interface could help people recover from severe depression. Motif Neurotech announced Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration has approved a human study to trial the company's blueberry-sized brain implant that sits in the skull and delivers electrical stimulation to treat depression.
The Houston-based startup, founded in 2022, is part of a budding industry pursuing technology to read and interpret brain signals. While other companies exploring similar technology, like Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Paradromics, and Synchron, are developing devices to enable paralyzed people to communicate and use computers, Motif is aiming to ease depression in people who have not benefited from medication.
The company’s device is implanted in the skull just above the dura, the brain’s protective membrane. It targets the central executive network, a part of the brain that is responsible for high-level cognitive functions and is underactive in major depressive disorder. The implant emits specific patterns of stimulation to turn “on” this network.