Chinese researchers test brain implants to help drug addicts

Chinese doctors are conducting their first clinical trials of deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat methamphetamine addiction, as China outpaces Western countries to become a hub for research on the controversial procedure. The treatment involving a surgical implant of electrodes inside a patient to regulate brain activity, is widely used to treat motion disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Use of the procedure for psychiatric conditions including addiction is controversial due…