Assessment of deep brain stimulation for patients with treatment-resistant depression has inched forward over the past decade with promising results but remains in its early days with a total worldwide experience of roughly 60 patients.
That total includes patients who have received deep brain stimulation (DBS) leads placed in six different brain regions. However, the results suggest that one of the better target locations for DBS in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is in the nucleus accumbens, Dr. Bruno Millet said at the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
“The nucleus accumbens is a very good target that we will continue to study. It is very safe, and the surgery is easy and rapid. The nucleus accumbens has a good benefit-to-risk ratio,” said Dr. Millet, professor of psychiatry at the University of Rennes (France). “This is a strength of this target.”