Long-term Outcome of Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Part of the Anterior Limb of the Internal Capsule in a Cohort of 50 Patients With Treatment-Refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective intervention for patients with severe treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Our aim was to examine long-term effectiveness and tolerability of DBS and its impact on functioning and well-being.

Methods: Fifty patients with severe treatment-refractory OCD received DBS of the ventral part of the anterior limb of the internal capsule and were followed for at least 3 years following implantation (mean 6.

Efficacy of Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Anterior Limb of the Internal Capsule for Refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Clinical Cohort of 70 Patients.

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment option for patients with refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, clinical experience with DBS for OCD remains limited. The authors examined the tolerability and effectiveness of DBS in an open study of patients with refractory OCD.

Long-term deep brain stimulation of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule for treatment-resistant depression.

Objective: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) reduces depressive symptoms in approximately 40%-60% of patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD), but data on long-term efficacy and safety are scarce. Our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of DBS targeted at the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule (vALIC) in 25 patients with TRD during a 1-year, open-label, maintenance period, which followed a 1-year optimisation period.

Methods: Depression severity was measured using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D-17), Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and self-reported Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS-SR).

Body Weight Changes after Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder or Depression.

Background: In 2010, we published an often-cited case report describing smoking cessation and substantial weight loss after deep brain stimulation (DBS) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in an obese patient. To test whether this single observation was also observed in the treated population at large, the weight changes of a larger cohort of patients who underwent DBS for OCD or major depressive disorder (MDD) were studied.

Results: Data were available for 46 patients (30 OCD and 16 MDD patients; mean age 46.

Episodic memory following deep brain stimulation of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule and electroconvulsive therapy.

Background: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) and Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) are effective treatments for patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). However, a common side effect of ECT is autobiographical memory loss (e.g.

Contributions of the Ventral Striatum to Conscious Perception: An Intracranial EEG Study of the Attentional Blink.

Unlabelled: The brain is limited in its capacity to consciously process information, necessitating gating of information. While conscious perception is robustly associated with sustained, recurrent interactions between widespread cortical regions, subcortical regions, including the striatum, influence cortical activity. Here, we examined whether the ventral striatum, given its ability to modulate cortical information flow, contributes to conscious perception.

Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Anterior Limb of the Internal Capsule for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) do not respond sufficiently to several consecutive treatments for major depressive disorder. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising treatment for these patients, but presently placebo effects cannot be ruled out.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of DBS of the ventral anterior limb of the internal capsule (vALIC), controlling for placebo effects with active and sham stimulation phases.

Think twice: Impulsivity and decision making in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background And Aims: Recent studies have challenged the anxiety-avoidance model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), linking OCD to impulsivity, risky-decision-making and reward-system dysfunction, which can also be found in addiction and might support the conceptualization of OCD as a behavioral addiction. Here, we conducted an exploratory investigation of the behavioral addiction model of OCD by assessing whether OCD patients are more impulsive, have impaired decision-making, and biased probabilistic reasoning, three core dimensions of addiction, in a sample of OCD patients and healthy controls.

Methods: We assessed these dimensions on 38 OCD patients and 39 healthy controls with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11), the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Beads Task.

Cognitive effects of deep brain stimulation in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising treatment for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the effects of DBS on cognitive functioning remain unclear. Therefore, we aimed to assess cognitive safety of DBS for treatment-refractory OCD and the association between clinical changes and cognitive functioning.

Rebound of affective symptoms following acute cessation of deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is regarded as an effective way to treat refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Little is known about the effects of DBS cessation following a longer period of stimulation.

Objective: To determine the relapse and rebound effects of psychiatric symptoms, and their impact on Quality of Life (QoL) following acute cessation of DBS in OCD patients.

A case of musical preference for Johnny Cash following deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens.

Music is among all cultures an important part of the live of most people. Music has psychological benefits and may generate strong emotional and physiological responses. Recently, neuroscientists have discovered that music influences the reward circuit of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), even when no explicit reward is present.

Deep brain stimulation induces striatal dopamine release in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a chronic psychiatric disorder related to dysfunctional dopaminergic neurotransmission. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeted at the nucleus accumbens (NAc) has recently become an effective treatment for therapy-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder, but its effect on dopaminergic transmission is unknown.

Methods: We measured the effects of NAc DBS in 15 patients on the dopamine D2/3 receptor availability in the striatum with [(123)I]iodobenzamide ([(123)I]IBZM) single photon emission computed tomography.

Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder affects language: a case report.

Background And Importance: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with refractory neuropsychiatric disorders. Along with symptom improvement, DBS may have concurrent behavioral effects that help to unravel the role of specific brain circuitries in complex human behavior.

Clinical Presentation: This article reports on 2 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who received DBS targeted at the nucleus accumbens that resulted in a temporary change of accent and use of vocabulary.

Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorders: long-term analysis of quality of life.

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on quality of life (QOL) in therapy-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients.

Design: 16 patients who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed) (DSM-IV) criteria for OCD and were considered therapy-refractory were treated with DBS. Patients were assessed 1 month before device implantation (T0), at 8 months of active stimulation (T1) and at 3-5 years of active stimulation (T2).

Deep brain stimulation restores frontostriatal network activity in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Little is known about the underlying neural mechanism of deep brain stimulation (DBS). We found that DBS targeted at the nucleus accumbens (NAc) normalized NAc activity, reduced excessive connectivity between the NAc and prefrontal cortex, and decreased frontal low-frequency oscillations during symptom provocation in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Our findings suggest that DBS is able to reduce maladaptive activity and connectivity of the stimulated region.

Cognitive functioning in psychiatric disorders following deep brain stimulation.

Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is routinely used as a treatment for treatment-refractory Parkinson's disease and has recently been proposed for psychiatric disorders such as Tourette syndrome (TS), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Although cognitive deterioration has repeatedly been shown in patients with Parkinson's disease following DBS, the impact of DBS on cognitive functioning in psychiatric patients has not yet been reviewed.

Objective: Reviewing the available literature on cognitive functioning following DBS in psychiatric patients.

Active stimulation site of nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder is localized in the ventral internal capsule.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by persistent thoughts and repetitive ritualistic behaviours. Despite optimal cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological therapy, approximately 10 % of patients remain treatment-resistant. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is being investigated as experimental therapy for treatment-refractory OCD.

Deep brain stimulation increases impulsivity in two patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an adjustable, reversible, nondestructive neurosurgical intervention using implanted electrodes to deliver electrical pulses to areas in the brain. DBS has recently shown promising results as an experimental treatment of refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The novelty of the treatment requires careful observation of symptoms and possible side effects in patients.

Top-down-directed synchrony from medial frontal cortex to nucleus accumbens during reward anticipation.

The nucleus accumbens and medial frontal cortex (MFC) are part of a loop involved in modulating behavior according to anticipated rewards. However, the precise temporal landscape of their electrophysiological interactions in humans remains unknown because it is not possible to record neural activity from the nucleus accumbens using noninvasive techniques. We recorded electrophysiological activity simultaneously from the nucleus accumbens and cortex (via surface EEG) in humans who had electrodes implanted as part of deep-brain-stimulation treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Context: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder that affects 2% of the general population. Even when the best available treatments are applied, approximately 10% of patients remain severely afflicted and run a long-term deteriorating course of OCD.

Objective: To determine whether bilateral deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens is an effective and safe treatment for treatment-refractory OCD.

Smoking cessation and weight loss after chronic deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens: therapeutic and research implications: case report.

Objective: Smoking and overeating are compulsory habits that are difficult to stop. Several studies have shown involvement of the nucleus accumbens in these and other addictive behaviors. In this case report, we describe a patient who quit smoking and lost weight without any effort, and we review the underlying mechanisms of action.