Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has successfully advanced our treatment options for putative therapy-resistant neuropsychiatric diseases. Building on this strong foundation, more and more mental disorders in the stadium of therapy-resistance are considered as possible indications for DBS. Especially, schizophrenia with its associated severe and difficult to treat symptoms is gaining attention. This attention demands critical questions regarding the assumed mechanisms of DBS and its possible influence on the supposed pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Here, we synoptically compare current approaches and theories of DBS and discuss the feasibility of DBS in schizophrenia as well as the transferability from other psychiatric disorders successfully treated with DBS. For this we consider recent advances in animal models of schizophrenic symptoms, results regarding the influence of DBS on dopaminergic transmission as well as data concerning neural oscillation and synchronisation. In conclusion, the use of DBS for some symptoms of schizophrenia seems to be a promising approach, but the lack of a comprehensive theory of the mechanisms of DBS as well as its impact on schizophrenia might hinder the use of DBS for schizophrenia at this point in time.
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.