dbs seems to come with all sorts of surprises...fascinating...although not so much if u r the patient...uncharted territory...a little scary. carole --- rayilynlee <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Deep Brain Stimulation In Hypothalamus Triggers Déjà Vu > In Patient > ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2008) - Deep brain stimulation > (DBS) surgery, which > is used to treat Parkinson's disease and other movement > disorders, is now > being studied for its potential to treat a variety of > conditions. A new > study found that hypothalamic DBS performed in the > treatment of a patient > with morbid obesity unexpectedly evoked a sense of déjà > vu and detailed > personal memories. > Led by Andres Lozano, Professor of Neurosurgery and > Canada Research Chair in > Neuroscience and his team at the Toronto Western Hospital > in Toronto, > Ontario, researchers conducted an experimental study to > treat a 50-year-old > man with a lifelong history of obesity in whom a variety > of treatment > approaches had failed. While they were identifying > potential appetite > suppressant sites in the hypothalamus by stimulating > electrode contacts that > had been implanted there, the patient suddenly > experienced a feeling of > "déjà vu." > He reported the perception of being in a park with > friends from when he was > around 20 years old and as the intensity of the > stimulation was increased, > the details became more vivid. These sensations were > reproduced when the > stimulation was performed in a double-blinded manner. The > contacts that most > readily induced the memories were located in the > hypothalamus and estimated > to be close to the fornix, an arched bundle of fibers > that carries signals > within the limbic system, which is involved in memory and > emotions. > Stimulation was shown to drive the activity the temporal > lobe and the > hippocampus, important components of the brain's memory > circuit. > At the first office visit two months after the patient > was released from the > hospital, the researchers were able to induce and > videotape the memory > effects seen in the operating room by turning on the > electrical stimulation. > They also tested the patient's memory during and without > stimulation and > found that after three weeks of continuous hypothalamic > stimulation he > showed significant improvements in two learning tests. In > addition, the > patient was much more likely to remember unrelated paired > objects when > stimulation was on than when it was off. They conclude > that "just as DBS can > influence motor and limbic circuits, it may be possible > to apply electrical > stimulation to modulate memory function and, in so doing, > gain a better > understanding of the neural substrates of memory." > DBS of the hypothalamus has also been used to treat > cluster headaches and > aggressiveness in humans, and stimulating this area > influences feeding > behavior in animals. > Journal article: "Memory Enhancement Induced by > Hypothalamic/Fornix Deep > Brain Stimulation," Clement Hamani, Mary Pat McAndrews, > Melanie Cohn, > Michael Oh, Dominik Zumsteg, Colin M. Shapiro, Richard A. > Wennberg, Andres > M. Lozano, Annals of Neurology, January 2008. > Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell, via > EurekAlert!, a > service of AAAS. > > Rayilyn Brown > Board Member AZNPF > Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation > [log in to unmask] > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn