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Wiring the Brain, Literally, to Treat Stubborn Disorders

The procedure starts with a surgeon drilling two holes in the patient's skull. "Every bone and tooth in my head was rattling," says Lisa Battiloro, who was awake, but not in pain, during the eight-hour operation.

Neurologists asked her questions and issued commands as they pinpointed the exact spot in her brain for electrical stimulation. At one point, "I suddenly felt hopeful and optimistic about the future," recalls Ms. Battiloro, who had battled severe depression for more than a decade. That's when the doctors knew they had found Brodmann 25, an area deep in the cerebral cortex associated with negative mood. They secured the electrodes in place, then sedated Ms. Battiloro while…

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Featured

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Articles of Interest

Are We Ready For An Implant That Can Change Our Moods?

The idea of changing the brain for the better with electricity is not new, but deep brain stimulation takes a more targeted approach than the electroconvulsive therapy introduced in the 1930s.

Are We Ready For An Implant That Can Change Our Moods?

The idea of changing the brain for the better with electricity is not new, but deep brain stimulation takes a more targeted approach than the electroconvulsive therapy introduced in the 1930s.

Brain Stimulation Shows Promise in Treating Severe Depression

Years ago, more than two dozen patients received an electrical implant to counter their depression. They’re still feeling better, a new study finds.

Can Electrically Stimulating Your Brain Make You Too Happy?

When doctors can directly access patients' cerebral reward networks, someone has to decide just how good people should feel.

Deep Brain Stimulation Could Alleviate OCD When Other Treatments Have Failed

For this small group of individuals with severe and persistent OCD, deep brain stimulation – a procedure that fewer than 400 people with OCD have undergone worldwide – provides hope.

Deep brain stimulation: current challenges and future directions

The clinical use of deep brain stimulation (DBS) is among the most important advances in the clinical neurosciences in the past two decades. As a surgical tool, DBS can directly measure pathological brain activity and can deliver adjustable stimulation for therapeutic effect in neurological and psychiatric disorders correlated with dysfunctional circuitry.

Deep Brain Stimulation: Remote Control Brain

We have the story of one woman who is taking part in an experiment on deep brain stimulation.

Deep brain stimulation: the hidden challenges of a technological fix

The success of DBS in neurologically-based movement disorders has encouraged clinicians and researchers to trial the technology in psychiatric conditions that do not respond to treatment.

Efficacy and quality of life after 6–9 years of deep brain stimulation for depression

This study shows continued efficacy of vALIC DBS in depression, which translates into an improvement of QOL providing further support for DBS as a durable treatment for TRD.

Episode 30: Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation is like a pacemaker for your brain: it can stop tremors, wake you from a coma, and maybe even make you smarter. All these miraculous results, but nobody knows exactly how it works. Maybe I’m crazy, but I always find it reassuring when I talk to a scientist and find out that they don’t know what’s going on either.

Everything to Know About Brain Stimulation Therapies for Mental Health

The five main types of brain stimulation therapies used to treat mental illness are electroconvulsive therapy, vagus nerve stimulation, deep brain stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, and magnetic seizure therapy. Let’s explore what they are, how they work, and their potential risks.

How Deep Brain Stimulation Works, as Explained by a Neurologist

DBS is a FDA-approved surgical treatment for the movement disorders of Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia. Sometimes, with what’s called the humanitarian device exemption, it can also be used in severe cases of other neurological or psychiatric conditions where a patient is suffering tremendously and not responding to medication.

How tiny electrodes in the brain could treat Parkinson's, OCD, and even depression

DBS is now a commonly used elective treatment for people with tremors and other movement problems that aren't effectively addressed by medication. Over time, doctors have identified regions to be targeted to treat various symptoms: Parkinson's-related tremors can be treated by stimulating the subthalamic nucleus, and epilepsy can sometimes be treated via the anterion thalamic nucleus. Deep brain stimulation might treat OCD, depression, and chronic pain.

In research first, jolts from a customized brain implant provided immediate relief to a severely depressed patient, scientists say

When Sarah, 36 years old and severely depressed, sat down in a lab with a head full of surgically implanted sensors last year, the last thing she expected was to spontaneously cackle. She hadn’t laughed like that — a real, unforced laugh — in five years. But something had happened: A subtle electrical shock deep in her brain had interfered with the dark anxious spirals her depression had sent her on since she was a child. Sarah laughed, and the whole room was taken aback, researchers recalled.

Neuralink put a chip in Gertrude the pig’s brain. It might be useful one day

So we are not yet at the point where Neuralink’s device puts us on the cusp of being able to improve memory or attention, or to use our brains to send a hands-free message to your partner’s phone. But the device might help us towards exciting steps such as restoring the ability to talk, or move a wheelchair or robotic arm using signals from the brain. And for people in those situations, any incremental progress is very promising.

Neurostimulation

Is it a good idea to drill holes in people’s heads to treat them for depression?

Researchers develop non-invasive deep brain stimulation method

DBS is generally safe but, like any surgical procedure, comes with some risks. First and foremost, it is highly invasive, requiring small holes to be drilled in the patient’s skull, through which the electrodes are inserted.

Speaking Brainish: Unlocking New Benefits of Deep Brain Stimulation

Since the late 1990s, doctors have used deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy to help people with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders improve their motor functions and reduce tremors. But the procedure sometimes has side effects, including seizures, mental confusion and headaches.

Wireheading: This Strange Experiment from the 1950s Wired Pleasure Directly Into the Brain

In the early 1950s, some very odd experiments were being performed at Tulane University in Louisiana. Dr. Robert G. Heath found that he could manipulate the pleasure and pain centers of the brain by surgically placing electrodes deep inside.

Resources

A history of deep brain stimulation: Technological innovation and the role of clinical assessment tools

The rapid adoption of DBS technology into therapies for a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions has attracted the attention of ethicists.