The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced that it will spend $26 million on a program to create brain implants for treating mental conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The agency said the five-year program could help develop technology to fight depression, anxiety and other severe conditions experienced among members of the U.S. military who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to RT.
"We've seen far too many times where military personnel have neuropsychiatric disorders and there's very few options," said Justin Sanchez, program manager with DARPA.
The goal of the program, called Systems-Based Neurotechnology for Emerging Therapies (SUBNETS) is to have electrodes implanted in different areas of the brain. A tiny chip will be positioned between the brain and the skull, The Verge reported.
Electrical signals in the brain would be monitored by the chip. Data would be sent wirelessly back to scientists to help them better understand diseases like PTSD and treat symptoms.
The implants will be analyzed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and the Massachusetts General Hospital, RT reported.
SUBNETS is part of a White House project called Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN), which was announced by President Barack Obama last year as a program to study the human brain.
PTSD is still a huge issue in the military. Current treatments for the disease include talk therapy, medications and psychedelic drugs, The Verge reported.
If SUBSETS is successful, it could be a huge benefit for those who suffer from PTSD and other anxiety disorders.
The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) said that 11-20 percent of soldiers who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars experienced PTSD, RT reported.
After gaining an understanding of how the implant technology works in the body, the researchers will start developing tiny electronic implants capable of stimulating neurons in brain circuits with issues.
"We know that once you start putting stimulation into the brain, the brain will change in response," said Eddie Chang, a neurosurgeon at UCSF.
