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Indian-American led study discovers new neural biomarker for OCD
OCD is a prevalent and debilitating mental health condition affecting approximately 2-3 percent of the global population.
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Dr. Sameer Sheth. / Baylor College of Medicine
A recent study identified a distinct neural activity pattern that serves as a new biomarker, that can help to accurately predict and monitor the clinical status of people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who receive deep brain stimulation (DBS).
The study, led by Dr. Sameer Sheth at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital and published in Nature Medicine, found that after DBS activation, the participants' behavioral repertoire is expanded, allowing them to respond more flexibly to situations and not be driven by a strong desire to avoid OCD triggers.
“We have identified a neurophysiological biomarker that can serve as a reliable indicator of improvements in mood and behaviors in OCD patients after DBS treatment. We anticipate these findings to transform how patients are monitored throughout DBS therapy,” said Dr. Sheth, professor and vice chair of Research in the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine, director of the Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation Laboratories, and investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Sheth noted that achieving precise DBS programming for OCD and other psychiatric disorders is significantly challenging due to the prolonged delay between the initiation of stimulation and the improvement of symptoms.
“Our goal in undertaking this study was therefore to find a reliable neural biomarker to guide us during DBS management, and to remotely monitor changes in our patients’ symptoms. This is particularly important because several of our patients travel long distances from around the country or world to get DBS treatment, which for OCD is currently offered only in very few specialized centers,” he said.
DBS as emerging treatment for OCD
OCD is a prevalent and debilitating mental health condition affecting approximately 2-3 percent of the global population, with about two million individuals affected in the US alone. Since the early 2000s, deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy has been utilized to modulate neural activity in specific brain regions associated with OCD symptoms.
Similar to how pacemaker devices regulate electrical activity in the heart, DBS devices manage electrical activity in the brain. These devices transmit electrical impulses from a generator, typically implanted in the upper chest, through thin leads (wires) to targeted regions in the brain.
The precise adjustment of stimulation parameters enables electrical pulses to rehabilitate a malfunctioning brain circuit to a healthier state. DBS, an FDA-approved procedure widely employed for movement disorders like essential tremors and Parkinson’s disease, is increasingly applied in the treatment of severe OCD as well.
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