What is deep brain stimulation for mental disorders?

Brain stimulation therapies can play an important role in treating mental disorders. These therapies work by activating or inhibiting the brain with electricity. The electricity can be given directly through electrodes implanted in the brain or indirectly through electrodes placed on the scalp. The electricity can also be induced by applying magnetic fields to the head. Deep brain stimulation is one of the experimental therapies covered on this page. Other brain stimulation therapies not discussed here may also hold promise for treating mental disorders. What is deep brain stimulation is one of the questions to be answered about brain stimulation therapies. The information about these therapies is updated frequently. See the FDA website for the latest information, warnings, and guidance on brain stimulation devices and announcements about new ones.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an evolution of two surgical procedures that have been shown to help control symptoms of certain disorders such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and multiple sclerosis. Researchers are now studying the use of DBS for certain types of mental disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder and major depression, that are resistant to other forms of treatment. DBS is a neurosurgical procedure that involves implanting electrodes into specific areas of the brain that then deliver electrical stimulation to those areas. Depending on which brain areas are targeted for stimulation, different types of brain functions (such as movement, or anxiety, or emotion) can be affected. For example, in psychiatry, DBS is being used to treat medication-nonresponsive obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), targeting specific brain areas thought to be involved in OCD, such as the nucleus accumbens, the anterior limb of the internal capsule, the inferior thalamic nucleus, and the subthalamic nucleus. DBS is also being examined to treat severe depression that is drug-resistant, focusing on brain areas associated with mood, such as the ventral striatum, the nucleus accumbens, the subgenual cingulate cortex, the lateral habenula, the inferior thalamic nucleus, and the medial forebrain bundle. Apart from the general risks of major surgery, DBS risks also include headaches, seizures, confusion, bleeding in the brain, and stroke. DBS appears to be a promising but still experimental consideration for some forms of hard-to-treat mental conditions.