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Dr Shock MD PhD
In short, a recent article proposed to do deep brain stimulation for schizophenia. Schizophrenia has positive-, negative- and cognitive symptoms (see the figure above). The authors propose the DBS for positive symptoms. Their approach is based on current models of the neurocircuitry of psychosis .
They hypothesize:
that chronic, high frequency electrical stimulation (HFS) of the hippocampus or the nucleus accumbens (NAc), through stabilization of dopamine (DA) release in the striatum, may improve positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
I checked Clinicaltrials.gov but no one is doing a trial with DBS and schizophrenia yet.
Their hypothesis is based on the assumption that hippocampal hyperactivity early in the course of the illness leads to excessive dopamine release and the appearance of positive symptoms. Stimulation of the hippocampus might slow down this hyper stimulation as in a rodent model of schizophrenia.
The nucleus accumbens plays an …