When does a medical miracles go too far. Is this kind of intervention limited to diseases or are we going to extend it further . In a america tonight special, rewiring the brain. Its called deep brain stimulation and it could be a game changer for severe psychiatric conditions. Its already been effective for diseases like parkinsons but now doctors are probing deeper in a way that could change patients thoughts and moods even their behavior. America tonight has an exclusive look at a patient, who is crippled by obsessive obsessive obsessive compulsive disorder. Jennifer geeson gee son is about to undertake a procedure, she hopes it will control a medical condition that has overcome her life. Jennifer has a obsessive compulsive disorder. Im going to go to the zoo. Growing up in suburban chicago jennifer said her mind was overwhelmed by numbers. She counted unusual objects and repeated behaviors. I had this thing where if i saw like a teen stoner had stoned in a book or passed one i had to count them and a certain number and also i had to open and close things miment times to multiple times to end on a good number or until it feels right. As a young person jennifer was on therapy but throughout her childhood the condition got worse. Nightmare. At the age of 24 she constantly thinks about death and germs. Why are you wearing gloves . Because i dont want to touch anything that i dont have to. And if theres some things that i feel are so contaminated that even if i wash my hands afterwards thats not good enough. Like i would want to burn my off. When you say contaminated what do you mean . There are certain things in my mind that make other things dirty so like Funeral Homes are contaminated so if i go by a contaminated. Do you feel that your upbringing had anything to do with your ocd . When i was in second grade, my mom got really sick. And she almost died. And so therapists in the past have said you know it could be my obsession with Funeral Homes and stuff could be with her being her almost dying. This is jennifers one safe spot, her bedroom. I kind of live in this room. She keeps her food here to avoid contamination. Her Laundry Basket is filled with gloves. This one is not going to work because its often the inside, i contaminated it. So i have to wash there. She wears those gloves 247. That was colleen. Her first run. Jennifers mother julie remembers the bright days when her daughter would play outside with friends unafraid of contamination. Julie says shes tried everything to stop her daughters downward spiral. How hard is this to see as a mom . Oh, its horrible. Its just i mean her whole family is affected but to see her go throughout this. There have been years when she hasnt been able to touch. I couldnt kiss her, i couldnt hug her. Even now im lucky if i get a little kiss here and there. Shed be crying, id be crying and i cant if i touched her shed break because im dirty. You couldnt hug her . For years. We saw jennifers ocd firsthand when she showed us her glass art. I like fuse glass. Can i touch it . Actually dont touch it. Sorry. Thats okay. How tired are you with dealing with this . You i dont remember what its like to be happy, to do normal things. What do you wants to do . To me normal things are being able to shower in your house being able to wash your hands and not wear gloves and be able to do 100 things that everyone else takes for granted and thinks is so easy. Jennifer has been searching for a cure for years. Her journey has now led her to the mayo clinic in rochester minnesota. Doctors here are pioneering deep brain estimation for psychiatric disorders. The patients that are enrolled in these studies are really the worst of the worst. So these are patients that have tried everything and have failed. Dr. Kendall lee has been performing brain surgeries to decade. What is deep brain estimation. Deep brain estimation is stateoftheart technology, to treat disorders like parkinsons and tourettes disease. Like roger fresh he developed a tremor that made it impossible to perform. The hand of a violin right in the or. We had to. The doctor had fresh test the instrument, to make sure the electrodes were precisely on target. When the electrodes were turned on his tremor vanished and he was able to play. [applause] what was that like, to have that music light up the room . It was invigorating. Because this man was a concert master he had to get the music perfect. Wheewe inserted the second lead and when we did, he got that perfect movement. Pretty cool. Yes very cool. Dr. Lee will now perform the similar procedure on jennifer. Its her last hope for a pert better life. When we come back, we will have the procedure, when sunday. You know his music but what about the man . I was given a gift. 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Jennifer gee son suffers from son suffers from obsessive compulsive are disorder. No other ring approaches have help her. Can you describe what you feel . Like im looking forward to it, a kid on Christmas Morning you know, you want to get there right now. Reporter its finally time for jennifer to head into the operating room. All right my dear, were going to introduce you to the Surgical Team waiting for you. Reporter usually these are for patients with parkinsons or tremors, in fact, jennifer is one of the first people to undergo this procedure for ocd. The first step of the operation is the most painful. Jennifer is fitted with a head brace. Her skull must remain completely still during the entire procedure. It made it more painful as we put the head frame on. How you doing . Okay were almost done. Reporter dr. Lee prepares for surgery as jennifer undergoes a series of High Resolution mris. These are crucial to avoid hemorrhaging. Later on when dr. Lee will place electrodes, millimeters in diameter, deep in her brain. As far as inserting we can look right through brain and avoid where the blood vessels are. Inside the operating room the procedure gets underway. You will hear a little bit of noise, drilling sounds but this should not hurt. So this is x ray, now we have both electrodes in. As jennifers side is mayo clinic psychiatrist dr. Osama abosoud. He controls the electrodes on a hand held device. Jennifers emotions quickly change as the voltage changes. Shes awake and alert, and describing how she feels. Horrible. I know im sorry about that. Within minutes the horrible feelings go away as dr. Abosaud continues to adjust the voltage brain. This is the result. I dont know why im laughing. Youre laughing again . I dont know why. What is that like for her to go through those highs and lows so quickly in such a manic way . Its dramatic. And i would assume that its very uncomfortable. To feel that youre not in control of your own mind. And someone else can take control of your mind. Through a device. Jennifers ocd is so severe she insisted keeping on the gloves she wears everywhere even inside the operating room. But the gloves provide a way for the doctors to measure how well the brain. Do you want to take the glove off . I dont want to. If you try to take gloves id start crying, dont do that. You would not expect someone to turn off a sandwich that would say, i have no more ocd, im cured. We do not have that. The effect is cumulative, youre going to get a little better then therapy comes, then little bit better then i can function. The highs and lows are are an emotional roller coaster for jennifer. Youre not going to make me feel good . But moments later. I want to crawl up in a ball and die. Is there an unlimited really realm as to what we can be looking at . What we have here is dbs is modifying, we have the opportunity to potentially modify that function to improve human health. So with the electrodes implanted the surgery now moves into its next phase. Jennifer will be sedated. And a battery pack will be implanted into her chest then shes off to the recovery room. Jennifer, hi, hi, good morning. The morning after surgery and jennifer is doing quite well. Doctors have now closed the two holes in her skull and the electrodes are permanentsly implanted inside her brain. Theyre connected via wires to a battery. But for now, the device last been switched off. Jennifer is part of a Clinical Trial. Half the ocd patients in the trial will have their devices eventually turned on. While the other half will receive what doctors call placebos. What do you remember of the surgery . All of it. You remember all of it . Tell me about the laughing and that . I dont know, it was like all of a sudden i couldnt help it. It was like my mind was thinking of something hilarious, i dont know what it was. Youre sitting there changing the buttons changing her mind. While thats a powerful tool it makes you feel very worried it makes you wonder where is the science going to take us . What does it feel like when your ploitions were on a high during emotions were on a high during that . I didnt want them to adjust it after that. I dont want that to go away. It made it harder whether it got bad because i just had such a positive experience that it was really difficult to accept it, now it was not just normal but worse than normal. Is a doctors here say about twothirds of ocd patients who are enrolled in these clinical studies have seen their ocd symptoms reduced by half. Dr. Lee is excited about the possibility of using deep brain estimation for a host of psychiatric disorders including depression, schizophrenia, even addiction. Why are you so excited about this . Im excited because this changes lives. If you look at jennifer, this is a very, very difficult situation. Not only for her but for her family as well. And so to be able to modify that, and give her hope, real hope, this is amazing and its very exciting. Jennifer says she doesnt remember the last time she felt as happy as she did inside the operating room. Theres been a long time since he felt like there was hope and there was a chance i could push the ocd away and be able to do the things i want to do in life. When jennifer goes back to the mayo clinic, doctors could switch her device back on. Until then its a waiting game to see if and when her surgery was a success. When we come back, we caught back up with jennifer and join us to see if it worked and if america tonight has been following the extraordinary story of a young woman literally trying to rewire her brain. Hoping to escape the devastating psychiatric condition known as obsessive compulsive disorder. Now we go back to jennifer gee geeson. A hug. Six months ago, this would be impossible for jennifer geeson. Obsessiveobsessive compulsive disorder result her life. She feared what she called contamination. Even my own mom sometimes she could cry because she couldnt hug me and shes like i just love you so much and that made me feel really guilty. Some of my family members made me feel even more guilty. Do you know how bad i feel . Believe me, i want to hug you just as much as you want to hug me. Reporter we first met jennifer last august. She has suffered from ocd since childhood. The severe psychological disorder cutting her off from other people and the outside world. As a last resort, she decided to undergo radical surgery. How you doing . Okay. Youre almost done. Youre going to hear just a little bit of noise drilling sound but this should not hurt. Reporter a groundbreaking estimation. Could you take them off for me . Yes. Six months later the gloves came off. I could take them off. Now i feel like im not protected so i mean if somebody came and touched my hands first id hit them as a warning. You would not want me to shake your hand . I would shake your hand with glove. As part of a Clinical Trial testing deep brain estimation against a placebo, jennifer had her unit switched on. She continued to have the limits adjusted every two weeks, while doctored doctors kept trying to find the right balance. I was shutting down, and when he would be turning the signs back up, i would have this weird halfsmile on my face constantly. Just like giggles and i was a completely different person. At this Animal Shelter where she volunteers shes visibly happier since the surgery. And doing this without gloves a few months ago would have been unthinkable she says she has a much greater lust for life. In fact, jennifer revealed an unexpected side effect of her rewired brain. Im more sexual. Im more sexually interested. There were times in my life where i literally thought, i think im asexual. I really couldnt even imagine being intimate with anyone without it just being an uncomfortable hug with your like great aunt. To me nothing intimate was desirable. I was so depressed. You can think of intimacy now . Now its a curse and a blessing, i dont have this desire to be intimate but its so instant, im not saying sexually intimate with everybody, i kind of want to snuggle with people and i dont care how well we know each other. Put my head into someones lap and be touchy feely. You like people again . I do. Gettings to this point hasnt been easy. Hitting just the exact voltage is an inexact ins science. Jennifer hit an all time low she was put into a psychiatric facility. All i could see was the scissors she used to cut off the old luggage tags. If i even scratch her would she notice if i cut my wrists . Do we understand the circuitry of the brain, absolutely not. It is highly experimental. Dr. Art kaplan is a medical thickist. Ethicist. Its an area for medical research. What they think of is psychosurgery. Weve had a horrific history in medicine of taking the brain apart. Think lobotomies. There are plenty of people who remember that era and they dont trust whether a doctor is saying, hey how if i put a wire in your head and stimulate your brain. Is this different . It is different. If you dont like it we can end it. Those are the ethical hallmark that make dbs different. Doctors at the mayo clinic believe that dbs could be used for other medical conditions and maybe even addictions. Dr. Kaplan believes it could be a pandoras box. Where do you see this going . It could be helpful but you could see it going in a different direction. I never read that fast. Is there a part of the brain you could trigger for a better memory . Possibilities. It is not there yet, you dont wake up tomorrow by saying oh my goodness, theyre going to be enhancing peoples brains. Ten years out, were going to have to decide, is this limited to diseases or are we going to extend it further and see whether we can make a better brain. Jennifers future is unclear. She sees a psychiatrist at the university of chicago twice a week and shes undergoing additional behavioral therapies hoping eventually the gloves will come off for good. Theres no such thing really as ocd remission. It is not like cancer where it goes away and you wait to see as tumors come back. It is more like you can manage it and its more like kind of like diabetes where you have to still have your insulin shots and something where you have to maintain it and it can easily creep right back up any day. Even though it hasnt been a cure, youre happy you had it done . Oh god yes, i cant even remember happiness what it was like. It was very motivating. It is physically possible for me to be happy. I mean it could happen. It is happening for jennifer. As for the others enrolled in this study, the verdict isnt in yet. But whatever the results researchers say they will help us map out the brains circuitry and perhaps unlock more of its mysteries. Im adam may, thanks for joining us for this special report. More air strikes in yemen as the Saudi Led Coalition targets houthis for a third day. Hello, youre watching al jazeera, im jane dutton from our headquarters in doha. Al shabaab strikes a hotel in mogadishu