scholarly journals Deep Brain Stimulation of the Posterior Insula in Chronic Pain: A Theoretical Framework

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 639
Author(s):  
David Bergeron ◽  
Sami Obaid ◽  
Marie-Pierre Fournier-Gosselin ◽  
Alain Bouthillier ◽  
Dang Khoa Nguyen

Introduction: To date, clinical trials of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for refractory chronic pain have yielded unsatisfying results. Recent evidence suggests that the posterior insula may represent a promising DBS target for this indication. Methods: We present a narrative review highlighting the theoretical basis of posterior insula DBS in patients with chronic pain. Results: Neuroanatomical studies identified the posterior insula as an important cortical relay center for pain and interoception. Intracranial neuronal recordings showed that the earliest response to painful laser stimulation occurs in the posterior insula. The posterior insula is one of the only regions in the brain whose low-frequency electrical stimulation can elicit painful sensations. Most chronic pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, had abnormal functional connectivity of the posterior insula on functional imaging. Finally, preliminary results indicated that high-frequency electrical stimulation of the posterior insula can acutely increase pain thresholds. Conclusion: In light of the converging evidence from neuroanatomical, brain lesion, neuroimaging, and intracranial recording and stimulation as well as non-invasive stimulation studies, it appears that the insula is a critical hub for central integration and processing of painful stimuli, whose high-frequency electrical stimulation has the potential to relieve patients from the sensory and affective burden of chronic pain.

2008 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroki Toda ◽  
Clement Hamani ◽  
Adrian P. Fawcett ◽  
William D. Hutchison ◽  
Andres M. Lozano

Object To examine the influence of deep brain stimulation on hippocampal neurogenesis in an adult rodent model. Methods Rats were anesthetized and treated for 1 hour with electrical stimulation of the anterior nucleus of the thalamus (AN) or sham surgery. The animals were injected with 5′-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) 1–7 days after surgery and killed 24 hours or 28 days later. The authors counted the BrdU-positive cells in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus. To investigate the fate of these cells, they also stained sections for doublecortin, NeuN, and GFAP and analyzed the results with confocal microscopy. In a second set of experiments they assessed the number of DG BrdU-positive cells in animals treated with corticosterone (a known suppressor of hippocampal neurogenesis) and sham surgery, corticosterone and AN stimulation, or vehicle and sham surgery. Results Animals receiving AN high-frequency stimulation (2.5 V, 90 μsec, 130 Hz) had a 2- to 3-fold increase in the number of DG BrdU-positive cells compared with nonstimulated controls. This increase was not seen with stimulation at 10 Hz. Most BrdU-positive cells assumed a neuronal cell fate. As expected, treatment with corticosterone significantly reduced the number of DG BrdU-positive cells. This steroid-induced reduction of neurogenesis was reversed by AN stimulation. Conclusions High-frequency stimulation of the AN increases the hippocampal neurogenesis and restores experimentally suppressed neurogenesis. Interventions that increase hippocampal neurogenesis have been associated with enhanced behavioral performance. In this context, it may be possible to use electrical stimulation to treat conditions associated with impairment of hippocampal function.


2021 ◽  
pp. 16089-16097
Author(s):  
Aditya Robin Singh, Vikash Yadav

Researchers reported decreased nerve entropy Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have abnormalities in their basal ganglia (BG). Studies of local field potentials (LFPs) recorded from the hypothalamus and single unit recordings of GP neurons showed this reduction to be significant. According to this hypothesis, these changes are consistent with changes in the ability of the basal ganglion network to encode PD information. Our deep brain stimulation of cortical basal ganglia (DBS) model includes single LFP recordings and shows how entropy changes during DBS. In addition to the extracellular stimulation of supplied STN fibers and LFP mimetics, which are detected differently on a registered electrode, this model includes osteoclast activation and anti-apoptosis. In the DBS network, the firing pattern fluctuated between high-frequency and low-frequency stimuli, since gp neurons in the network showed a decrease in entropy when a high-frequency stimulus was applied and an increase in entropy when a low-frequency stimulus was applied. Second hand. Changes in neural entropy after DBS have been reported experimentally. The simulation results were consistent


2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-169
Author(s):  
Erwin B. Montgomery ◽  
He Huang ◽  
Harrison C. Walker ◽  
Barton L. Guthrie ◽  
Ray L. Watts

2009 ◽  
Vol 110 (6) ◽  
pp. 1271-1273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damianos E. Sakas ◽  
Ioannis G. Panourias ◽  
Efstathios J. Boviatsis ◽  
Marios S. Themistocleous ◽  
Lambis C. Stavrinou ◽  
...  

Deep brain stimulation of the globus pallidus internus has been shown to be beneficial in a small number of patients suffering from axial dystonias. However, it has not yet been reported as an effective treatment for the alleviation of idiopathic head drop. The authors describe a 49-year-old woman with idiopathic cervical dystonia (camptocephalia) who was unable to raise her head > 30° when standing or sitting; her symptoms would abate when lying down. This disabling neurological condition was treated successfully with bilateral chronic electrical stimulation of the globus pallidus internus.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria de Carvalho Fagundes ◽  
Carlos R. M. Rieder ◽  
Aline Nunes da Cruz ◽  
Bárbara Costa Beber ◽  
Mirna Wetters Portuguez

Introduction.Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been linked to a decline in verbal fluency. The decline can be attributed to surgical effects, but the relative contributions of the stimulation parameters are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the frequency of STN-DBS on the performance of verbal fluency tasks in patients with PD.Methods.Twenty individuals with PD who received bilateral STN-DBS were evaluated. Their performances of verbal fluency tasks (semantic, phonemic, action, and unconstrained fluencies) upon receiving low-frequency (60 Hz) and high-frequency (130 Hz) STN-DBS were assessed.Results.The performances of phonemic and action fluencies were significantly different between low- and high-frequency STN-DBS. Patients showed a decrease in these verbal fluencies for high-frequency STN-DBS.Conclusion.Low-frequency STN-DBS may be less harmful to the verbal fluency of PD patients.


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