The former shipbuilder had severe depression unrelieved by any of today's therapies, so sick he had trouble even leaving his house. Then doctors implanted a pacemaker-like device to stimulate a part of his brain thought important for mood -- and that very day the man laughed.

"It was remarkable," recalled Dr. Mark George of the Medical University of South Carolina, who performed the experimental implant. "I said, 'Are you being forced to laugh or do you feel good inside?' He said both."


AP, filed at 2:52 p.m. EDT, October 11, 1999