Arunachalam Sakthiyendran Naveen, Padala Venkata Jaswanth, Seide Melinda, See Jia Whei, Sabu Nagma, Sharma Asmita, Silat Mohammed T, Katariya Kabeer, Chauhan Sonali, Fatima Urooj
Neurological Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, USA.
Internal Medicine, GSL Medical College, Rajamahendravaram, IND.
Cureus. 2025 Feb 14;17(2):e79022. doi: 10.7759/cureus.79022. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Despite advancements in psychiatric treatments, many patients with treatment-resistant disorders are turning to neurosurgical interventions. These include neuromodulation-based surgeries such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) and ablative surgeries such as cingulotomy, offering relief for severe conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and substance use disorder. While "psychosurgery" has sparked debate due to concerns about patient well-being, recent studies indicate promising symptom improvement rates across various psychiatric conditions while also demonstrating overall safety. Neuromodulation techniques, such as DBS, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), have evolved in regard to their sensitivity and their ability to target specific brain regions to alleviate psychiatric symptoms. Despite their benefits, these therapies have been shown to elicit side effects such as memory loss and seizures in patients, which has sparked controversy in the use of this technology across clinicians and patients. Ablative therapies, on the other hand, are concerning for being overly invasive in their approach toward psychiatric care. Despite the stigma associated with these neurosurgical interventions for psychiatric care, these procedures often remain a last resort for many patients, highlighting the need for continued research to improve these treatments and expand options for those in need. In this narrative review, we examine the current literature to elicit an understanding of neurosurgical history in regard to psychiatric disorder treatment and its implications for clinical practice.
Neurotherapeutics. 2024-4
Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2014-9
World Neurosurg. 2013-2-16
Neurosurg Focus. 2015-6
Prog Brain Res. 2022
Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2024-8
Psychiatry Investig. 2023-11
Neurosurg Focus. 2023-2
Iran J Child Neurol. 2023
Turk J Med Sci. 2022-8