An experimental test, which involves placing of six electrodes around the forehead and on the earlobes, can accurately predict within a week whether a particular antidepressant will be effective by using brain-wave patterns on an EEG. The lead author of the study and professor of psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Dr. Andrew Leuchter, said that until now there had been no reliable method for predicting whether a medication would lead to a good response or remission. The test can be performed in 10 to 15 minutes in any office setting.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), which involves the insertion of electrodes into the brain to send small electric charges to it and alter the dieter’s perception on fullness and even attitude to food altogether, can be used to tackle the obesity problem. A three-year trial is currently underway in the US, with two volunteers having already undergone the procedure. Should the surgery be approved by the US Government at the end of the trial period, Dr. Donald Whiting, a neurosurgeon at West Virginia University Hospital that has performed two such interventions, says, other countries will also consider allowing it to be performed on patients who have tried it all and failed to lose weight.