The Alteration of Neurogenesis and Pathological Markers in Alzheimer's Disease After Deep Brain Stimulation.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia that causes disabilities in memory formation and activities of daily living. Unfortunately, pharmacologic treatments have minimal and short-lasting effects on AD. With the increasing aging population, investigations into therapeutic strategies for AD that lead to a delay in disease progression would significantly reduce the global burden of AD. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is considered therapeutic for several conditions, such as movement disorders and some psychiatric diseases. Preclinical and clinical studies that used DBS as a treatment modality demonstrate the safety of DBS in AD and suggest potential memory improvements after surgery. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to understand the therapeutic mechanism of DBS. In this review, we summarize studies on DBS in various targets for AD and discuss DBS-induced changes in neurogenesis and pathological markers in AD.

Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation in a Patient with Severe Axial Symptoms and Suboptimal Levodopa Responsive Parkinson's Disease.

AIM: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a well-established treatment option for improving function and quality of life (QoL) in carefully selected patients with Parkinson?s disease (PD). Patient selection is a crucial step that should be performed by an experienced multidisciplinary team according to the proposed inclusion and exclusion criteria to increase the QoL of patients. CASE REPORT: A 47-year-old bedridden woman with a 20-year history of PD presented with levodopa-unresponsive tremor and severe axial symptoms. Despite various antiparkinsonian medications, a suboptimal improvement was observed with the levodopa challenge test. After detailed evaluations, she underwent bilateral subthalamic nucleus DBS. During the 2-year follow-up, her axial symptoms improved significantly leading to a better QoL. CONCLUSION: Although levodopa-resistant axial symptoms are considered a relative contraindication to DBS surgery, this case report demonstrates that with an interdisciplinary approach and an accurate assessment of symptoms, even bedridden and latestage selected PD cases may benefit from DBS.