Posted by Bob on January 10, 2012, at 14:58:21
In reply to Re: how possible is it to have DBS done » Bob, posted by SLS on January 10, 2012, at 14:48:22
> > One fact to keep in mind: the two different camps are stimulating two different areas of the brain.
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> > The Cleveland Clinic/Medtronic group is addressing an area in the nucleus accumbens, while St. Jude Medical (BROADEN) is using the Cg25 (Cingulate) area.
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> Is the area of the nucleus accumbens to be treated hyperactive? How does the treatment work?
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> - ScottI guess that's what they would posit. The going theory for the mechanism at work regardless of what site is being stimulated is that the electrical activity disrupts the normal signaling in the brain in some sort of sphere shaped area around the electrode, the size of which is related to the magnitude and parameters of the stimulation signal.
I think the whole reason this DBS idea got off the ground was its ostensible relation to the psychosurgical techniques employed in the past at similar brains targets, which produced a physical lesion at the area in question using a heat ablation. Obviously a lesion in the brain would occlude any signal activity in that region thus forcing the brain to develop a workaround. I feel there are some serious questions as to whether the DBS technique is actually mimicking the ablative methods as is currently thought though. It seems more likely to me that there is some sort of complicated interaction between the electrical signals and the natural electro-chemical activity of the brain.
poster:Bob
thread:1006843
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120108/msgs/1006909.html