Electro-Magnetic Fields Repair Brain Damage

Driving is a very common luxury in North America for citizens to enjoy, and sometimes even take for granted. A 26-year-old man was driving home one night from spending time with a friend when, unexpectedly, his car struck a curb and flipped over. He was thrown through the windshield and was discovered outside of the car when paramedics arrived. It is truly a blessing for the man that he did indeed survive.

Even though he is still alive to this day, the first year after the accident he was without action, stabilized in a coma. It wasn't until the end of the first year that he was able to open his eyes, but still there was very little communication coming from the man.

A lady named Theresa Pape was left in charge of what kind of treatment should be used when attempting to rehabilitate the man. It is a difficult decision considering what state the man was currently in.

Pape knew about a form of therapy using electro-magnetic fields called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This form of electro-magnetic therapy was typically used to treat other forms of brain damage or brain dysfunction like migraines, stroke, Parkinson's disease, and even depression. However, this is the first documented time that TMS has been used as a rehabilitated method for a person trapped in a coma.

The treatment is completed in sessions where the patient has electro-magnetic coils placed around his head. These coils emit electro-magnetic pulses that stimulate the brain. Pape intentionally targeted the region of the brain called the right prefrontal dorsal-lateral cortex (this region is located approximately around the right eye). Pape knew that stimulating this area of the brain would send something like a wake up call to the rest of the brain because the stimulations would go from the original area of stimulation all the way down to the brainstem. When the brain stem was activated, it sends a signal to the rest of the brain to "pay attention" for lack of a better term.

Pape scheduled 30 sessions with the man to receive the TMS treatment. There were dramatic improvements such as his ability to follow basic directions (like following the movement of an object with his eyes), and even being able to speak again. His words were mostly slurred and quite simple, but there is no doubt that the electro-magnetic stimulation from TMS had a very profound affect.

When the sessions stopped, his condition began to slowly decline again. So Pape scheduled 10 more sessions, which seemed to maintain the progress. It is no exaggeration to say that the man was certainly not cured. However, to see such amazing improvements can make one think about all the implications of electro-magnetism and health.