Surgery for intractable affective illnesses has generated considerable
controversy over the last century. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has
revolutionized neurosurgical practice, especially in the field of
advanced Parkinson’s disease and, more recently, in selected
medical-refractory cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In this
paper, we propose a discrete area of the rostral. cingulate gyrus as a
potential target for DBS in medical-resistant depressive patients.
Brodmann’s area 24a has proved to be a vital link in the integration of
neural circuits underlying depression, both through proposed
neurobiological models and accurate neuroimaging studies. The full
reversibility and adjustability of DBS offer the best chance to treat
the multidimensional and Life-span profile of depression, so giving hope
to a great number of desperate human beings. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. ALL
rights reserved
