SKIRMISHER

Could direct electrical stimulation of your brain’s joy centers via a pair of electrodes be the end for clinical depression? Of course! Try walking around with wires dangling from your brain and see if it won’t make you feel silly — and consequently silly-happy.

Take the case of Diane Hire:

…two volts of electricity, enough to power a wristwatch, course through the wires and radiate outward from the tip a few millimeters in every direction. Millions of neurons bask in the electricity, and the effect is fairly immediate. Hire feels warm at first, a bit flushed.And then it happens. The room looks brighter to her. The faces, the big, circular lights overhead, the ceiling—they all seem clearer. Malone asks her how she feels. “I’m really happy,” she replies, clearly surprised. “I feel like I could get up and do all sorts of things.” But even more telling than her words is the look on her face. For the first time in 20 years, with a halo bolted to her head and two freshly drilled holes in her skull, Hire smiles.

[Continue smiling like a silly girl in love here]

Stumble it!