Researchers have discovered brain patterns that reflect the effectiveness of deep brain stimulation therapy. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may lead to improved methods of treating symptoms individually in each case.
A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas used brain scan data from 12 patients with treatment-resistant OCD to Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) – a treatment that monitors and controls activity in precise sub-areas of neural tissue via implanted electrodes.
“Recent advances in surgical neuromodulation have made it possible to continuously monitor brain activity over time in patients with OCD during their daily lives.” To tell Nicole Provenza, a biomedical engineer at Baylor College of Medicine;
“We took advantage of this novel opportunity to identify key neurological features that act as predictors of clinical status.”
DBS is often used when traditional treatments have failed. An increasingly common approach Treatment of neurological disorders, Including OCDAbout two-thirds of people with OCD experience improvement after DBS treatment, but monitoring progress and determining the exact level of stimulation is not always easy.
The researchers tracked low-frequency brain oscillations ranging from theta (4-8 Hz) to alpha (8-12 Hz) and found a specific regular 24-h circadian rhythm in neural activity in the ventral striatum at a frequency of 9 Hz (theta-alpha border) that was disrupted by the application of DBS treatment.
The researchers believe that this confusion may be a sign of changes in rituals or neurological responses to events throughout the patient’s day.
“This expanded repertoire may reflect more diverse brain activity patterns.” To tell “So we think that this very predictable loss of neural activity indicates that participants were engaging in less repetitive, compulsive OCD behaviors,” said Wayne Goodman, a psychiatrist at Baylor College of Medicine.
Mapping the changes in neural patterns in response to DBS could reveal which patients are responding well to treatment, which dosages are most effective, and which patients need to move on to the next treatment. Alternative treatments.
it is About 2.3 percent With 70% of the adult U.S. population experiencing OCD at some point in their lives, any improvements in treatment could make a difference in millions of lives.
“We are excited that similar signatures of neural activity like this may underlie other neuropsychiatric disorders and could serve as biomarkers to diagnose, predict and monitor those diseases.” To tell Provenza.
This study Nature Medicine.
