Successful deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens in severe alcohol dependence is associated with changed performance monitoring

ABSTRACT Following recent advances in neuromodulation therapy for mental disorders, we treated one patient with severe alcohol addiction with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Before and one year following the surgery, we assessed the effects of DBS within the NAc on the a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Addiction biology 2011-10, Vol.16 (4), p.620-623
Main Authors: Kuhn, Jens, Gründler, Theo O. J., Bauer, Robert, Huff, Wolfgang, Fischer, Adrian G., Lenartz, Doris, Maarouf, Mohammad, Bührle, Christian, Klosterkötter, Joachim, Ullsperger, Markus, Sturm, Volker
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Alcohol addiction
Alcoholism - physiopathology
Alcoholism - rehabilitation
Attention - physiology
Awareness - physiology
Contingent Negative Variation - physiology
corticomesolimbic pathway
craving
deep brain stimulation
Deep Brain Stimulation - methods
Electroencephalography
error-related negativity
Evoked Potentials - physiology
Executive Function - physiology
Gyrus Cinguli - physiopathology
Humans
Male
Motivation - physiology
nucleus accumbens
Nucleus Accumbens - physiopathology
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Following recent advances in neuromodulation therapy for mental disorders, we treated one patient with severe alcohol addiction with deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens (NAc). Before and one year following the surgery, we assessed the effects of DBS within the NAc on the addiction as well as on psychometric scores and electrophysiological measures of cognitive control. In our patient, DBS achieved normalization of addictive behavior and craving. An electrophysiological marker of error processing (the error‐related negativity) linked to anterior mid‐cingulate cortex (aMCC) functioning was altered through DBS, an effect that could be reversed by periods without stimulation. Thus, this case supports the hypothesis that DBS of the NAc could have a positive effect on addiction trough a normalization of craving associated with aMCC dysfunction.
ISSN:1355-6215
1369-1600
DOI:10.1111/j.1369-1600.2011.00337.x