There is an urgent need for novel therapeutic approaches for AD. Modulating pathological brain activity in this illness with DBS merits further investigation.

Summary:Purpose: A significant number of patients with epilepsy remain poorly controlled despite antiepileptic medication (AED) treatment and are not eligible for resective surgery. Novel therapeutic methods are required to decrease seizure burden in this population. Several observations have indicated that the anterior thalamic region plays an important role in the maintenance and propagation of seizures. We investigated neuromodulation of the anterior thalamus by using deep-brain stimulation (DBS) in patients with intractable seizures.Methods: Five patients with medically refractory epilepsy underwent stereotactic placement of and received stimulation through bilateral DBS electrodes in the anterior thalamus.Results: Treatment showed a statistically significant decrease in seizure frequency, with a mean reduction of 54% (mean follow-up, 15 months). Two of the patients had a seizure reduction of Ն75%. No adverse effects were observed after DBS electrode insertion or stimulation. Unexpectedly, the observed benefits did not differ between stimulation-on and stimulation-off periods.Conclusions: DBS of the anterior thalamus is a safe procedure and possibly effective in patients with medically resistant seizures.

Bilateral hypothalamic deep brain stimulation was performed to treat a patient with morbid obesity. We observed, quite unexpectedly, that stimulation evoked detailed autobiographical memories. Associative memory tasks conducted in a double-blinded "on" versus "off" manner demonstrated that stimulation increased recollection but not familiarity-based recognition, indicating a functional engagement of the hippocampus. Electroencephalographic source localization showed that hypothalamic deep brain stimulation drove activity in mesial temporal lobe structures. This shows that hypothalamic stimulation in this patient modulates limbic activity and improves certain memory functions.