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Neurosurgical Treatments of Depression

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Book cover Behavioral Neurobiology of Depression and Its Treatment

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 14))

Abstract

The neurosurgical treatment of treatment-resistant depression (TRD) has entered a new era with more and more patients being treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) via surgically implanted intracerebral electrodes. Although the mechanisms of action of DBS are still not fully understood, preclinical studies are being conducted to elucidate how the treatment might work. DBS in its present form can be considered as a relatively new neurosurgical treatment for TRD. However, the use of neurosurgery in the management of depression has a much longer history particularly with ablative procedures but also vagal nerve stimulation. Here, we provide a review of the clinical neurosurgical treatments for TRD, with a main emphasis on DBS. In addition, we discuss relevant preclinical data that are revealing new information about DBS mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

The scientific work of YT and LWL in the field of DBS in depression received support from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO Veni), Dutch Brain Foundation, and the Singapore Lee Kuan Yew Research Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Yasin Temel & Lee Wei Lim

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Lee Wei Lim

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Maastricht, PO Box 5800, 6202 AZ, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Yasin Temel

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  1. Yasin Temel
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  2. Lee Wei Lim
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Correspondence to Yasin Temel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Warneford Hospital, Dept. Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, United Kingdom

    Philip J. Cowen

  2. Dept. Pharmacology, University of Oxford, Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3QT, United Kingdom

    Trevor Sharp

  3. , Dep of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, United Kingdom

    Jennifer Y. F. Lau

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Temel, Y., Lim, L.W. (2012). Neurosurgical Treatments of Depression. In: Cowen, P., Sharp, T., Lau, J. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of Depression and Its Treatment. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 14. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2012_222

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