Abstract

Deep brain stimulation is a technique in which electrodes are stereotactically implanted in specific regions of the brain to administer electric pulses. After implantation, the activity of the electrodes can be adjusted. The field of psychiatry shows great interest in deep brain stimulation because there is little risk of complications and because it is reversible and postoperatively adjustable to optimalize the treatment. Deep brain stimulation is being investigated as a potential treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette's syndrome, and major depressive disorder. Deep brain stimulation for psychiatric conditions is still strictly experimental. It is expected that deep brain stimulation will be the treatment of choice for chronic therapy-refractory psychiatric disorders. The speed of responses following deep brain stimulation is urging psychiatrists to reconsider basic pathophysiological mechanisms of psychiatric disorders.