Shown are two brain structures– the thalamus (pink) and the hippocampus (yellow)– as well as the stimulation electrodes. A possible therapy is deep brain stimulation delivered by a pacemaker-like gadget. A team of researchers from Charité– Universitätsmedizin Berlin discovered that stimulating a specific network in the brains of Alzheimers clients can decrease their symptoms. “In one client, who was being treated for weight problems, deep brain stimulation triggered flashbacks– sudden memories of their childhood and adolescence,” states Dr. Ana Sofía Ríos from the Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology at Campus Charité Mitte, and the studys lead author. “This led the Canadian researchers to suspect that stimulating this brain region, which was situated in the fornix, might also be appropriate for dealing with Alzheimers.”.
Ana Sofía Ríos
Researchers at Charité have actually revealed a brain network that, when promoted, can relieve symptoms.
Alzheimers illness, which is the most common form of dementia, is challenging to treat. A possible treatment is deep brain stimulation delivered by a pacemaker-like device. A group of researchers from Charité– Universitätsmedizin Berlin found that stimulating a particular network in the brains of Alzheimers patients can decrease their symptoms. The research study, published in the journal Nature Communications, provides hope for further research in this location.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a restorative method that is already licensed in Germany to treat neurological movement disorders such as Parkinsons disease and dystonia, as well as neuropsychiatric conditions like obsessive-compulsive condition. In DBS, thin electrodes are implanted in the patients brain and deliver constant, moderate electrical pulses to a specific area.
The electrodes stay in the brain permanently and are connected by means of wires that run under the skin to a pacemaker-like gadget implanted in the chest location. The device is utilized to change the strength and frequency of the electrical stimulation.
” Although DBS has actually been an established treatment for Parkinsons disease for an excellent 20 years now, and the expenses are covered by health insurance coverage companies, its still not a really popular treatment,” states Prof. Andreas Horn, head of a lab that explores network-based brain stimulation at the Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology at Campus Charité Mitte, and at Brigham and Womens Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, both affiliates of Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA.
” DBS works extremely well in clients with Parkinsons,” he states. “It enhances their quality of life substantially.”
Considering that Alzheimers is likewise a neurodegenerative disease, it seems likely that DBS might be used to treat this condition, too. However safe, reliable treatment is just possible if the precise brain regions that need stimulation are understood.
The starting point for the existing study, which the researchers carried out in close cooperation with multiple partners including the University of Toronto in Canada, was a random observation made within a Canadian study. “In one patient, who was being dealt with for weight problems, deep brain stimulation caused flashbacks– sudden memories of their childhood and adolescence,” states Dr. Ana Sofía Ríos from the Department of Neurology and Experimental Neurology at Campus Charité Mitte, and the studys lead author. “This led the Canadian scientists to think that promoting this brain area, which lay in the fornix, might likewise be ideal for dealing with Alzheimers.”.
To investigate this even more, researchers working at 7 worldwide centers as part of a multicenter research study implanted electrodes in the exact same location of the fornix in participants with mild Alzheimers disease. “In the present research study, we desired to discover the root cause of these differences, so we compared the exact position of the electrodes in each individual.”.
Prof. Horns research study group has actually focused on evaluating high-resolution magnetic resonance pictures of the brain and integrating these with computer models to precisely pinpoint the ideal locations for DBS.
” One of the main obstacles is that every brain is different– whichs actually crucial for precisely planting the electrodes,” states Prof. Horn. “When electrodes are positioned even a few millimeters off target, it could cause a lack of benefit for the client.” This was what happened for the majority of the study individuals. But Prof. Horn and his group were able to use imaging information to identify the precise position of the electrodes in the patients that made money from the treatment.
” The ideal stimulation site seems to be the intersection of 2 fiber bundles– the fornix and stria terminalis– that link areas deep in the brain. Both structures have been linked to memory function,” says Prof. Horn.
Additional scientific research studies are needed before DBS can be approved and utilized to deal with Alzheimers illness. Today results are an important next step in the procedure. “If our data make it possible to place electrodes more precisely in neurosurgical studies trialing DBS in Alzheimers clients, that would be wonderful,” says Prof. Horn. “We desperately require an efficient treatment that alleviates the signs of this disease– and DBS is very promising.”.
Going forward, the Horn lab will perform further research studies to investigate and specify other neural networks in the brain that might be useful in treating dementia. Their work will consist of analyzing locations of brain sores and recognizing target regions for both DBS and other techniques of neurostimulation.
Reference: “Optimal deep brain stimulation sites and networks for stimulation of the fornix in Alzheimers illness” by Ana Sofía Ríos, Simón Oxenford, Clemens Neudorfer, Konstantin Butenko, Ningfei Li, Nanditha Rajamani, Alexandre Boutet, Gavin J. B. Elias, Jurgen Germann, Aaron Loh, Wissam Deeb, Fuyixue Wang, Kawin Setsompop, Bryan Salvato, Leonardo Brito de Almeida, Kelly D. Foote, Robert Amaral, Paul B. Rosenberg, David F. Tang-Wai, David A. Wolk, Anna D. Burke, Stephen Salloway, Marwan N. Sabbagh, M. Mallar Chakravarty, Gwenn S. Smith, Constantine G. Lyketsos, Michael S. Okun, William S. Anderson, Zoltan Mari, Francisco A. Ponce, Andres M. Lozano and Andreas Horn, 14 December 2022, Nature Communications.DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-022-34510-3.
