Rémy Furrer, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow and Amanda Merner, PhD, an instructor and research scientist in the Brain Bioethics Lab in the Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital are the lead authors of a paper published in Device, “Public perceptions of neurotechnologies used to target mood, memory, and motor symptoms.” Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, PhD, JD, associate professor in the Departments of Neurosurgery and Psychiatry at MGH, is senior author.

Some patients with a rare form of ALS benefited from an experimental therapy, with biomarker evidence of reduced injury to neurons and even limited functional recovery. 

For the nearly 30 percent of major depressive disorder patients who are resistant to treatment, ketamine provides some amount of normalcy, but it requires frequent treatment and can have side effects. Vanderbilt researchers now show in proof-of-concept experiments that it may be possible to extend ketamine’s antidepressant effect from about a week to up to two months.