© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Can Hacking The Brain Make You Healthier?

Part 5 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Hackers.

About Andres Lozano's TEDTalk

Neurosurgeon Andres Lozano talks about dramatic findings in deep brain stimulation including a woman with Parkinson's who instantly stops shaking, and brain areas eroded by Alzheimer's that are brought back to life.

About Andres Lozano

Neurosurgeon Andres Lozano remembers the most satisfying case of his career – helping a boy with dystonia that had twisted his body to the point where he could only crawl on his stomach. The boy didn't respond to drugs, but he did respond to deep brain stimulation. Three months after surgery, he was walking like a normal child.

Lozano is a pioneer in deep brain stimulation. His team has mapped out areas of the human brain and pioneered novel surgical approaches to treat disorders like Parkinson's disease, depression, dystonia, anorexia, Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease. He is the chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Toronto.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

NPR/TED Staff