Welcome to The Deep End, a new podcast about brain implants and depression
This is an X-ray of Jon Nelson, a man who volunteered for an experimental depression treatment. The image shows two thin wires of electrodes that were implanted in his brain.
THE NASH FAMILY CENTER FOR ADVANCED CIRCUIT THERAPEUTICS, ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI
Brain implants for depression: It sounds like science fiction but it’s real. The Deep End, a new podcast from Science News, will give you a glimpse of what it’s like to live with electrodes in your brain. It might change how you think about mental health, the brain and what makes you you.
Transcript
Laura Sanders: Inside your brain, there are billions of nerve cells that form trillions of connections. These connections make your thoughts, movements, emotions, and memories. Your first kiss, your favorite song, your dreams. Our brains make us who we are. But sometimes they can betray us.
This is a story about four people whose brains turned against them, plunging their lives into the darkness of severe depression. This is also a story about an experiment designed to pull them back out.
Amanda: My initial response was a little bit of skepticism, like, “OK, we’re gonna put a box in you, we’re gonna hook it up to some wires, we’re gonna shove them down in your brain and then electrocute you, and it’s gonna make you feel great.” Like, this doesn’t seem like a, like a safe thing to be doing.
Sanders: This experiment sounds like science fiction, but it’s real. This is the Deep End, a new podcast from Science News. I’m Laura Sanders. On this podcast, you’ll hear what led people to sign up for this unconventional experiment and what it was like for them.
Jon Nelson: The amount of times that I have had people say to me, “Snap out of it. What do you, Dude. You got a great life. You’re succeeding professionally. You’ve got great kids. Your wife’s awesome. Like, what do you have to be depressed about? What do you have to be depressed for?”
Sanders: You’ll also hear from family members, doctors, and scientists who have been attempting to turn this electricity into medicine for the brain.
Helen Mayberg: And so it was pretty surprising when we get to the third contact, and we start to turn it up, and we get to about 5 volts. It’s like it goes from 0 to 10. And all of a sudden, the patient goes, “Oh, that’s interesting. The void is gone.” I, I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t speak for anybody else. There’s a moment where you’re just not even sure what you’ve just watched happen.
Sanders: I’ve been reporting on brains for more than a decade. This story, more than any other, changed how I think about mental health, emotions, and how we can show up for each other in this world. It might just do the same for you.
Barbara Nelson: But my son, my middle son, said to me after, right after, he said, “You know, mom, if you’re mad at dad, you can always hide the charger.” I was like, “Oh, dude, that’s too far. That is too far.”
Sanders: Subscribe to The Deep End wherever you get your podcasts.
This podcast was produced with support from PRX, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The podcast logo was created by Neil Webb.
