The Keys to DBS Effectiveness: Location, Location, Location

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) can be life changing in some, but not all, patients with highly refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To explore the importance of electrode placement, investigators implanted DBS electrodes in the internal capsule (IC) or dorsal region of the ventral striatum (dVS) in an established animal model of OCD — a strain of mice prone to excessive grooming and anxiety-like behavior.

DBS at either target normalized excessive grooming but had no effect in a small subset of animals that already had normal grooming behavior. IC stimulation was significantly more effective than dVS for grooming. The treatment had no effect on anxiety. Expression of the c-FOS protein, a manifestation of gene expression, increased ar…