Lawson Health Research Institute, St Joseph Health Care , 268 Grosvenor Street, London , Canada.
Interface Focus. 2011 Feb 6;1(1):61-74. doi: 10.1098/rsfs.2010.0509. Epub 2010 Nov 17.
Electric stimulation has been investigated for several decades to treat, with various degrees of success, a broad spectrum of neurological disorders. Historically, the development of these methods has been largely empirical but has led to a remarkably efficient, yet invasive treatment: deep brain stimulation (DBS). However, the efficiency of DBS is limited by our lack of understanding of the underlying physiological mechanisms and by the complex relationship existing between brain processing and behaviour. Biophysical modelling of brain activity, describing multi-scale spatio-temporal patterns of neuronal activity using a mathematical model and taking into account the physical properties of brain tissue, represents one way to fill this gap. In this review, we illustrate how biophysical modelling is beginning to emerge as a driving force orienting the development of innovative brain stimulation methods that may move DBS forward. We present examples of modelling works that have provided fruitful insights in regards to DBS underlying mechanisms, and others that also suggest potential improvements for this neurosurgical procedure. The reviewed literature emphasizes that biophysical modelling is a valuable tool to assist a rational development of electrical and/or magnetic brain stimulation methods tailored to both the disease and the patient's characteristics.
几十年来，人们一直在研究电刺激疗法，以不同程度的成功治疗广泛的神经紊乱。从历史上看，这些方法的发展在很大程度上是经验性的，但已经产生了一种非常有效但具有侵入性的治疗方法：深部脑刺激 (DBS)。然而，DBS 的效率受到我们对潜在生理机制理解的限制，以及大脑处理和行为之间存在的复杂关系的限制。使用数学模型描述神经元活动的多尺度时空模式，并考虑脑组织的物理特性的脑活动的生物物理建模，是填补这一空白的一种方法。在这篇综述中，我们展示了生物物理建模如何开始成为一种驱动力，指导创新的大脑刺激方法的发展，这些方法可能会推动 DBS 的发展。我们介绍了一些建模工作的例子，这些工作为 DBS 的潜在机制提供了富有成效的见解，还有一些工作也为这项神经外科手术提出了潜在的改进。综述文献强调，生物物理建模是一种有价值的工具，可以帮助合理开发针对疾病和患者特征的电刺激和/或磁刺激方法。
