Somatotopy of the sensory thalamus: inputs from directional deep brain stimulation in pain patients.

Objective: The sensory ventroposterior (VP) thalamic nuclei display a mediolateral somatotopic organization (respectively head, arm, and leg). We studied this somatotopy using directional VP deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients treated for chronic neuropathic pain.

Methods: Six patients with central (four) or peripheral (two) neuropathic pain were treated by VP DBS using directional leads in a prospective study (clinicaltrials.