Stanford Brain Implant Trial Shows Significant Improvement in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

The deep brain stimulation device, targeting the central lateral nucleus, boosted mental processing speeds by an average of 32% in a 90-day treatment period.

Stanford University researchers have developed a deep brain stimulation implant that has shown significant success in restoring cognitive function in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries.
The implant stimulates the central lateral nucleus, a region deep in the brain that controls alertness, learning, and memory, effectively 'turning the lights back up' in the brain.
In a trial involving five patients, the device improved mental processing speeds by an average of 32% over a 90-day treatment period, far exceeding the researchers' initial aim of 10% improvement.
The treatment was so effective that two participants refused to have their devices turned off for a planned phase of the study, and one participant's mental processing speed dropped by 34% when their device was turned off for three weeks.
Following the success of this trial, the researchers are now preparing for a larger phase 2 clinical trial.