Deep brain stimulation for depression: Scientific issues and future directions

Conclusion: We consider the placebo effect, the pattern of network activation, surgical candidacy and design of a blinded trial including the length of a crossover period. We suggest a greater focus on selecting patients with melancholia. We anticipate that methodological refinements may facilitate further investigation of this technology for intractable depression. We conclude by noting the psychiatric adverse events that have been reported in the literature to date, as these will also influence the design of future trials of deep brain stimulation for depression.
Source: Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Key Review Source Type: research