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By Mayo Clinic staffDeep brain stimulation is an established treatment for essential tremor and Parkinson's disease. Some people with Parkinson's who underwent deep brain stimulation reported an improved mood. Because of those results, deep brain stimulation is being studied as a possible depression treatment to be used when standard treatments don't work. Standard treatments include antidepressants, psychological counseling (psychotherapy) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Sending electrical impulses to areas of the brain linked with mood affects brain cells and brain chemistry. While this can help ease depression symptoms, researchers are still investigating exactly how deep brain stimulation improves mood.
Deep brain stimulation also shows some promise for some other mental illnesses. It has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for severe and debilitating obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). It's also being investigated to see whether it may help with Tourette syndrome, chronic pain and other disorders.
Although initial results are promising, more research is needed to determine whether deep brain stimulation can be considered a safe and effective treatment for depression. Researchers are still trying to identify the best locations for the electrode implants to help reduce symptoms while causing the least side effects.
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- Deep brain stimulation. NeuroSurgeryToday.org. http://www.neurosurgerytoday.org/what/patient_e/deep%20brain%20stimulation.asp. Accessed June 15, 2010.
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- Rabins P, et al. Scientific and ethical issues related to deep brain stimulation for disorders of mood, behavior, and thought. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2009;66:931.
- Tye SJ. Disrupting disordered neurocircuitry: Treating refractory psychiatric illness with neuromodulation. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2009;84:522.
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