Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 360, Issue 9342, 26 October 2002, Pages 1302-1304
The Lancet

Research Letters
Compulsions, Parkinson's disease, and stimulation

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11339-0Get rights and content

Summary

Pathophysiological models suggest that obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) might be associated with dysfunctions in cortico-striato-pallido-thalamo-cortical neuronal circuits. We implanted subthalamic electrodes to alleviate parkinsonian symptoms in two patients who had Parkinson's disease and a history of severe OCD. Parkinsonian disability improved postoperatively in both patients, and 2 weeks after the procedure, their compulsions had disappeared and obsessive symptoms improved (58% improvement for patient 1 on the Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale, 64% for patient 2). The improvements in these two patients suggest that high-frequency stimulation could improve function in the subcortical-limbic circuitry in patients with severe OCD.

References (5)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (294)

  • Electrical deep neuromodulation in psychiatry

    2021, International Review of Neurobiology
  • Principles and Practice of Movement Disorders

    2021, Principles and Practice of Movement Disorders
View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text