Time to Reconsider Deep Brain Stimulation

摘要

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an accepted therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD). It is seen as a reversible alternative to neurosurgery, but is nonetheless an invasive intervention with significant risks (Carter, Capps, and Hall 2012). Based on experiences with PD patients who are (experimentally) treated withDBS, the expectations about the therapeutic potential of DBS for other (particularly psychiatric) disorders have grown substantially.An example is treatment-resistant depression (discussed in the target article by Gilbert [2013]). Despite these expectations, ethical worries continue to exist that have not been adequately addressed. There is a danger that the lessons to be learned from historical examples like psychosurgery are not being taken seriously enough and that we have let ourselves be blinded by an unjustified biomedical therapeutic optimism.