The number of young Americans battling
depression rose by more than a third
in the decade leading up to 2014. In a
review of surveys completed by more than
170,000 teens, researchers from the Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health found that 6 percent of boys suffered
a major depressive episode in 2014,
up from 4 percent in 2005. Among girls,
the figure soared from 13 percent to more
than 17 percent. It’s unclear what’s behind
this worrying trend—and why girls are
more at risk. Researchers note that social
media use and cyberbullying are much
more prevalent among girls, which could
make them more vulnerable to depression.
Complicating matters, the number of
teens being treated for the disorder
remains unchanged. This suggests
many young people are suffering
in silence, increasing their risk for
suicide, reports NBCNews.com. Ramin
Mojtabai, the study’s leader, said it was
“imperative that we find ways to reach
these teenagers and help them manage
their depression.”
Paralyzed monkeys walk
In a medical breakthrough that offers new
hope to people with spinal cord injuries,
scientists have used a brain implant to
enable partially paralyzed monkeys to
regain the ability to walk. Researchers at
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
implanted the device in the monkey’s
motor cortex, or movement center, where
it recorded neural activity. This data was
then wirelessly routed to a second implant
placed on the spinal
cord beyond
the injured nerves,
which triggered the
intended movements.
Two monkeys
fitted with this
“brain-spine
interface” system
regained the ability to walk within days,
and were fully mobile after three months.
“It was a big surprise for us,” Grégoire
Courtine, a neuroscientist who led the
research, tells The Guardian (U.K.). “The
gait was not perfect, but it was almost like
normal walking. The foot was not dragging
and it was fully weight-bearing.” The
implant’s components—which took seven
years to develop, after 10 years of work on
rodents—are already approved for use in
humans. But helping monkeys walk using
four limbs is much less challenging than
enabling paralyzed people to balance and
walk on two legs. Nevertheless, researchers
believe the technology could be transferred
to humans within a decade.
hope to people with spinal cord injuries,
scientists have used a brain implant to
enable partially paralyzed monkeys to
regain the ability to walk. Researchers at
the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
implanted the device in the monkey’s
motor cortex, or movement center, where
it recorded neural activity. This data was
then wirelessly routed to a second implant
placed on the spinal
cord beyond
the injured nerves,
which triggered the
intended movements.
Two monkeys
fitted with this
“brain-spine
interface” system
regained the ability to walk within days,
and were fully mobile after three months.
“It was a big surprise for us,” Grégoire
Courtine, a neuroscientist who led the
research, tells The Guardian (U.K.). “The
gait was not perfect, but it was almost like
normal walking. The foot was not dragging
and it was fully weight-bearing.” The
implant’s components—which took seven
years to develop, after 10 years of work on
rodents—are already approved for use in
humans. But helping monkeys walk using
four limbs is much less challenging than
enabling paralyzed people to balance and
walk on two legs. Nevertheless, researchers
believe the technology could be transferred
to humans within a decade.
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