Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become an important treatment option for carefully screened medication resistant neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. DBS therapy is not always applied deep to the brain; does not have to be applied exclusively to the brain; and the mechanism for DBS is not simply stimulation of structures. The applications and target locations for DBS devices are rapidly expanding, with many new regions of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and muscles now possibly accessed through this technology. We will review the idea of "electrical neuro-network modulation (ENM)"; discuss the importance of the complex neural networks underpinning the effects of DBS; discuss the expansion of brain targets; discuss the use of fiber based targets; and discuss the importance of tailoring DBS therapy to the symptom, rather than the disease.
Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration, Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Florida.
Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 2013 Jan 1;53(9):691-4.
AbstractDeep brain stimulation (DBS) has become an important treatment option for carefully screened medication resistant neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. DBS therapy is not always applied deep to the brain; does not have to be applied exclusively to the brain; and the mechanism for DBS is not simply stimulation of structures. The applications and target locations for DBS devices are rapidly expanding, with many new regions of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and muscles now possibly accessed through this technology. We will review the idea of "electrical neuro-network modulation (ENM)"; discuss the importance of the complex neural networks underpinning the effects of DBS; discuss the expansion of brain targets; discuss the use of fiber based targets; and discuss the importance of tailoring DBS therapy to the symptom, rather than the disease.