Cellular, molecular, and clinical mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation—a systematic review on established indications and outlook on future developments

• Published in: EMBO molecular medicine Vol. 11; no. 4
• Main Authors: Jakobs, Martin, Fomenko, Anton, Lozano, Andres M, Kiening, Karl L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany EMBO Press 01.04.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Springer Nature
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Animals; Brain - metabolism; Brain - physiopathology; Brain research; circuitopathies; Deep Brain Stimulation; Electricity; Electrodes; Epigenesis, Genetic; Humans; Medical imaging; Movement disorders; Nervous system; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurogenesis; Neuromodulation; Neuronal Plasticity; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Parkinson Disease - pathology; Parkinson's disease; Propagation; Review; Surgery; neuromodulation; Parkinson's disease; movement disorders; deep brain stimulation; circuitopathies
• ISSN: 1757-4676; 1757-4684; 1757-4684
• DOI: 10.15252/emmm.201809575

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been successfully used to treat movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, for more than 25 years and heralded the advent of electrical neuromodulation to treat diseases with dysregulated neuronal circuits. DBS is now superseding ablative techniques, such as stereotactic radiofrequency lesions. While serendipity has played a role in developing DBS as a therapy, research during the past two decades has shown that electrical neuromodulation is far more than a functional lesion that can be switched on and off. This understanding broadens the field to enable new types of stimulation, clinical indications, and research. This review highlights the complex effects of DBS from the single cell to the neuronal network. Specifically, we examine the electrical, cellular, molecular, and neurochemical mechanisms of DBS as applied to Parkinson's disease and other emerging applications. For over 25 years, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been successfully used to treat movement disorders, i.e. Parkinson's disease. With high precision stereotactic implantation of electrodes, DBS is fast becoming a powerful tool for studying and treating the brain against many different diseases.