Neuroscience
Over the past few months, there have been a number of stories in the media about the topic of deep brain stimulation and its possible applications in the near future. The following article comes from Canada’s Globe and Mail:
- The Brain Radio
The Brain Radio is a long-running French radio program: THE BRAIN are Eva & Pascal Lebrain aka Puyo puyo, they run this radioshow from 1999, it deals with freaky electro, cheesy vintage, dry rock, movie themes and oddities in general. All is stuffed...
- More On Dbs (and The Neurological/psychiatric Divide)
"The microdrive behind the sterile curtain will insert probes into my brain a few micrometers at a time." - Steven Gulie in Wired It seems that deep brain stimulation is in the news these days, particularly DBS for Parkinson's disease. Neurophilosophy...
- Deep Brain Stimulation: The Immediate Benefits
Please note: This is part four of a four-part series. After suffering with Parkinson’s for five years, Steve Zabielski was fighting the symptoms that characterize the advanced stages of the disease. Medications no longer provided relief. He felt...
- Deep Brain Stimulation: The Journey Back To Normalcy
Please note: This is part three of a four-part series. For years, Steve had enjoyed an active and fulfilling life, traveling extensively, enjoying his career and family, and always doing something outdoors. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,...
- Dbs Patient To Appear On Woman’s Media Center Live
In recognition of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Robin Morgan from Woman’s Media Center Live, will be interviewing Lori Katz, a patient of Gordon Baltuch, MD, Director of the Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery. The interview will be...
Neuroscience
Deep Brain Stimulation and Tourette's Syndrome
Over the past few months, there have been a number of stories in the media about the topic of deep brain stimulation and its possible applications in the near future. The following article comes from Canada’s Globe and Mail:
Surgery helps short-circuit Tourette's syndrome[ ... Read the full article ...]
By PAUL TAYLOR
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail
Jeff Matovic used to eat with a plastic spoon to prevent himself from accidentally gouging out one of his eyes.The 31-year-old has Tourette's syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary muscle movements. Mr. Matovic, who developed symptoms at age 3, could not sit, walk or even sleep without his body exploding in an endless series of jerking motions and verbal outbursts. He has broken glasses in his bare hands and dented walls with his head because of sudden muscle contractions.
Things got so bad, Mr. Matovic sought out doctors who would implant electrodes in his brain to quiet his restless body, after hearing about another patient who had the treatment. The operation took place six months ago at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, and his body has been calm ever since.
"It's just amazing. It is truly phenomenal," Mr. Matovic said in a telephone interview from his home in a Cleveland suburb. Before the operation, he could barely talk on a phone because of an irrepressible urge to clear his throat, grunt and hiss -- not to mention the difficulty of holding the receiver.
Mr. Matovic underwent a treatment known as deep-brain stimulation, increasingly used to treat a wide range of brain disorders. Much like a heart pacemaker, the treatment provides a stream of electrical current to counteract a part of the brain that is misbehaving.
During surgery, electrodes are inserted into specific spots in the brain. They are then connected through wires under the skin (beneath the scalp, neck and upper chest) to a replaceable battery unit implanted beneath the collarbone.
Only a handful of people (none in Canada) has received the treatment for Tourette's. But deep-brain stimulation has been used for more than a decade to treat other movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, tremors and dystonia, which distorts posture. About 30,000 people around the world now have such brain implants.
As neurosurgeons refine their skills, medical experts speculate that deep-brain stimulation could be used to treat everything from drug addictions to depression. Studies are under way at various medical institutions to expand its use. The technique is proving effective partly because the brain itself operates like an electrical circuit. When even just a few brain cells are misfiring, they can cause widespread problems resulting in either a physical or mental disorder.
A little electrical current, applied in the right place, seems to restore harmony to the discordant symphony of the disordered brain, said Dr. Robert Maciunas, the neurosurgeon who operated on Mr. Matovic.
- The Brain Radio
The Brain Radio is a long-running French radio program: THE BRAIN are Eva & Pascal Lebrain aka Puyo puyo, they run this radioshow from 1999, it deals with freaky electro, cheesy vintage, dry rock, movie themes and oddities in general. All is stuffed...
- More On Dbs (and The Neurological/psychiatric Divide)
"The microdrive behind the sterile curtain will insert probes into my brain a few micrometers at a time." - Steven Gulie in Wired It seems that deep brain stimulation is in the news these days, particularly DBS for Parkinson's disease. Neurophilosophy...
- Deep Brain Stimulation: The Immediate Benefits
Please note: This is part four of a four-part series. After suffering with Parkinson’s for five years, Steve Zabielski was fighting the symptoms that characterize the advanced stages of the disease. Medications no longer provided relief. He felt...
- Deep Brain Stimulation: The Journey Back To Normalcy
Please note: This is part three of a four-part series. For years, Steve had enjoyed an active and fulfilling life, traveling extensively, enjoying his career and family, and always doing something outdoors. After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,...
- Dbs Patient To Appear On Woman’s Media Center Live
In recognition of Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Robin Morgan from Woman’s Media Center Live, will be interviewing Lori Katz, a patient of Gordon Baltuch, MD, Director of the Center for Functional and Restorative Neurosurgery. The interview will be...