deep brain stimulation

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

a neurosurgical procedure in which thin wire electrodes are implanted deep within specific brain structures and connected to a pulse generator implanted under the skin of the chest, delivering continuous or programmed electrical stimulation to modulate pathological neural circuit activity; DBS is most established as a treatment for Parkinson's disease — where stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus or globus pallidus internus dramatically reduces tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia — and is also approved for essential tremor, dystonia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder; investigational uses include treatment-resistant depression through subgenual cingulate cortex stimulation, Tourette's syndrome, chronic pain, epilepsy, and cluster headaches; the mechanism of DBS remains debated — early hypotheses that it mimics ablation have given way to more complex models involving modulation of pathological oscillatory synchrony, particularly in the beta frequency band; next-generation closed-loop DBS systems sense local field potentials and adapt stimulation in real time to brain state, reducing side effects and improving therapeutic efficacy

Examples

• Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus eliminated the patient's Parkinsonian tremor within minutes of activation.
• Researchers are testing deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for treatment-resistant depression.