Brain Stimulation News and Research

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Deep brain stimulation therapy promising against severe OCD

When obsessive-compulsive disorder is of crippling severity and drugs and behavior therapy can't help, there has been for just over a year a thread - or rather a wire - of hope. By inserting a thin electrode deep into the brain, doctors can precisely deliver an electrical current to a cord of the brain's wiring and soften the severity of the symptoms. "Deep brain stimulation" therapy for OCD won Food and Drug Administration approval in 2009 for extreme cases under its humanitarian device exemption.

19 Feb 2011

WINCS detects and measures serotonin levels in brain through deep brain stimulation

Mayo Clinic researchers have concluded that, through deep brain stimulation, a Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration System (WINCS) can detect and measure serotonin levels in the brain. The findings suggest that in the future such measurements of serotonin may help establish a therapeutic mechanism of deep brain stimulation for psychiatric disease.

16 Feb 2011

Regular exercise improves ability of overweight children to think, do math: Researchers

Regular exercise improves the ability of overweight, previously inactive children to think, plan and even do math, Georgia Health Sciences University researchers report.

10 Feb 2011

Law allowing use of unproven brain devices in "orphan" neuropsychiatric disorders needs to be strengthened: Experts

Warning that patients could be at risk, an interdisciplinary group of multinational investigators is calling on the U.S. Congress and federal regulators to tighten a law that permits use of brain devices to treat rare neuropsychiatric disorders without supporting clinical trials or stringent patient oversight.

7 Feb 2011

WINCS device can detect and measure serotonin levels in brain: Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic researchers have concluded that, through deep brain stimulation, a Wireless Instantaneous Neurotransmitter Concentration System can detect and measure serotonin levels in the brain. The findings suggest that in the future such measurements of serotonin may help establish a therapeutic mechanism of deep brain stimulation for psychiatric disease.

5 Feb 2011

More careful regulation of FDA's Humanitarian Device Exemption in psychiatric patients needed

4 Feb 2011

Physicians suggest new target structure for deep brain stimulation

Nearly ten percent of all cases of depression are so severe that the patients do not respond to any established treatment method. Targeted stimulation of areas in the brain using a type of "brain pacemaker" has recently raised hopes: According to initial studies, half of patients with the most severe depression treated in this manner see a significant improvement in mood.

31 Jan 2011

Research findings could help psychiatrists better diagnose depression, schizophrenia

When elderly drivers get behind the wheel, they often confront the harrowing reality that they cannot easily see other cars, pedestrians, or cyclists moving around them. This frightening effect of aging, it turns out, is not necessarily a result of a reduced ability to perceive moving objects, as one might suspect, but a heightened awareness of the backdrop against which these objects move.

29 Jan 2011

Patients with chronic depression can benefit from pioneering neurosurgical treatment

Pioneering neurosurgical treatment, a world first in Bristol, which very accurately targets brain networks involved in depression, could help people who suffer with severe and intractable depression.

25 Jan 2011

Researchers discover new treatment for difficult-to-control high blood pressure

Researchers were surprised to discover what may be a potential new treatment for difficult-to-control high blood pressure, according to a case report published in the January 25, 2011, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 Jan 2011

St. Jude Medical's Athena programmer DBS system receives Australian TGA approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced regulatory approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of its Athena™ programmer, a deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy management system.

24 Jan 2011

Deep brain stimulation stabilizes motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease over time

Parkinson's disease symptoms begin subtly and worsen as damage to certain brain cells continues. But an electrical stimulation device implanted deep in the brain and programmed remotely, along with medications, may provide some control of "motor symptoms" common to the disease, such as shaking, stiffness, and loss of muscle control.

19 Jan 2011

CAMH scientists receive NARSAD's Young Investigator grant awards for brain and behavior research

Seven scientists at Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health have been awarded Young Investigator grant awards by the U.S.-based NARSAD: The Brain and Behavior Research Fund.

12 Jan 2011

Radiosurgery may bring improvement for patients with extremely severe -compulsive disorder

For patients with extremely severe -compulsive disorder (OCD), a procedure called radiosurgery may bring improvement when other treatments have failed, according to a study in the January issue of Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

7 Jan 2011

Boston Scientific announces acquisition of Intelect Medical

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced it has acquired Intelect Medical, Inc., a development-stage company located in Boston. Intelect Medical is developing advanced neuromodulation technologies for deep brain stimulation therapy.

5 Jan 2011

DBS targets same class of neuronal cells that respond to physical exercise and drug Prozac

Shooting steady pulses of electricity through slender electrodes into a brain area that controls complex behaviors has proven to be effective against several therapeutically stubborn neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. Now, a new study has found that this technique, called deep brain stimulation (DBS), targets the same class of neuronal cells that are known to respond to physical exercise and drugs such as Prozac.

15 Dec 2010

New finding could help identify individuals with abnormal brain function

Mayo Clinic researchers found that the part of the brain generating seizures in individuals with epilepsy is functionally isolated from surrounding brain regions. The researchers hope this finding could be a clinical biomarker to help identify individuals with abnormal brain function.

9 Dec 2010

FDA clears Multi-Lead Trialing Cable for SCS therapy

Medtronic Inc., the leader in spinal cord stimulation for more than 25 years, today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and the global launch of the Multi-Lead Trialing Cable for use in the patient screening test for Medtronic spinal cord stimulation (SCS) therapy.

19 Nov 2010

Artificial retinas, thought-controlled devices and brain stimulation therapy show promise

Two experimental brain-machine technologies - deep brain stimulation coupled with physical therapy and a thought-controlled computer system-may offer new therapies for people with stroke and brain injuries, new human research shows. In addition, an animal study shows a new artificial retina may restore vision better than existing prosthetics. The findings were announced today at Neuroscience 2010, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health.

17 Nov 2010

tDCS electric stimulation can improve motor function in stroke patients

A noninvasive electric stimulation technique administered to both sides of the brain can help stroke patients who have lost motor skills in their hands and arms, according to a new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).

10 Nov 2010