[Recent] weeks have been frenetic for Bre Hushaw, who is now known to millions of people as the girl in the depression helmet.
…Her life as a meme began when she agreed to an on-camera interview with the local-news site AZfamily.com for a story headlined “Helmet Approved by FDA to Treat Depression Available in Arizona.”
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So last year, when Hushaw learned of a helmet that promised to magnetically rewire her brain, she saw this as an obvious yes. The helmet contains magnets that exert energy on the electrical functioning of the brain, a process known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS. Hushaw went to a clinic and absorbed electrical impulses for 20 minutes every (business) day for six weeks.
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Researchers at some academic institutions are taking the technology seriously. Yale has a Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Research Clinic, and the service is offered at Johns Hopkins. Numerous studies have suggested promising clinical uses, including one this week in the journal Neurology. … According to the Mayo Clinic: “Though the biology of why TMS works isn’t completely understood, the stimulation appears to impact how the brain is working, which in turn seems to ease depression symptoms and improve mood.”
Read full, original post: The Helmet That ‘Resets’ Your Brain
