DEEP-BRAIN STIMULATION (DBS): Electrodes implanted into targeted brain regions deliver electrical stimulation to either excite or inhibit activity in a neural circuit of interest. DBS patients are also fitted with battery-powered implanted pulse generators, typically placed subcutaneously below the clavicle and connected to the electrodes via insulated wires. These pulse generators can deliver electrical stimulation from 20 to 200 times per second. © THOM GRAVESThe world’s first neurosurgeries took place about 7,000 years ago in South America with the boring of holes into hapless patients’ skulls, a process known as trephination. Practitioners of the day believed the source of neurologic and psychiatric disease to be evil spirits inhabiting the brain, and the way to treat such disorders, they reasoned, was to make holes in the skull and let the evil spirits escape. The procedure was surprisingly common, with as many as 1 percent of skulls at some archaeological sites having these holes.
Today, neurosurgeons are still drilling into the brains of patients suffering from neurologic and psychiatric disorders, but rather than letting evil spirits escape, doctors are putting things in—inserting electrical probes to tame rogue neurons or to stimulate brain regions that are underperforming. This procedure, known as deep-brain stimulation (DBS), was first tried for the treatment of pain in the 1960s, and has since been attempted in patients with numerous other neurologic disorders. DBS is currently approved in the U.S. or Europe for the treatment of essential tremor, Parkinson’s disease, dystonia (a motor disorder that causes extreme twisting and repetitive motions), epilepsy, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The therapy is currently in clinical trials for depression, Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, and more.
Each of these disorders is a ...
