Deep brain stimulation offers a possible alternate therapy for depression

Written by Frances Adlam

A collaborative group  of researchers from the University of Bonn, the University of Freiburg (both Germany) and The Johns Hopkins University (MD, USA) have demonstrated the antidepressant effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the first long-term study on treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Their findings, recently published in Brain Stimulation, suggest DBS could be used as an alternative where drugs, psychotherapy or electroconvulsive therapy have been unsuccessful. In this study, eight patients suffering from TRD received DBS bilateral to the supero-lateral branch of the medial forebrain bundle; the region of the brain associated with the perception of pleasure. The effect of...

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