Personalized Mapping for Treatment of Neurological Conditions

Patients with severe Parkinson’s or other neurological conditions that cause uncontrollable symptoms such as shaking, spasms, seizures, obsessive thoughts, and compulsive behaviors may be treated with electric brain stimulators. These stimulators interrupt aberrant signaling that causes the symptoms, providing some relief to some patients. Some patients may experience side effects like memory loss, mood changes, or loss of coordination with little symptom improvement. 

Stimulators are implanted in the thalamus and basal ganglia, central brain structures that coordinate movement, vision, and other brain functions by exchanging information between neurological networks. Electrodes placed in the same anatomical spot may influence different networks in different people, so each person's functional networks are positioned slightly differently. The thalamus and basal ganglia, which have been linked to neurological and psychiatric conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, connect different parts of the brain. 

However, mapping these structures is technically challenging and requires large amounts of data, which has been a challenge for neurosurgeons who lack individualized maps of brain functions in these areas. 

The researchers created functional network maps of the basal ganglia and thalamus. These maps can help explain why people with neurological and psychiatric conditions exhibit different symptoms, and why electrode placement in these areas can have varying results. The study suggests that precise targeting of the correct functional network, and avoidance of the incorrect network, is essential for successful deep-brain stimulation results. By using a patient's personalized functional brain map instead of the average anatomical map, better results may be achieved. 

Source:- https://www.futurity.org/deep-brain-stimulation-variation-2233002/ 

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