Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Helen S. Mayberg, M.D.

Emory University

Rethinking Depression and its Treatment: Insights from Studies of Deep Brain Stimulation

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Neurology; Dorothy C. Fuqua Chair of Psychiatric Neuroimaging and Therapeutics.

Critical to the development of deep brain stimulation (DBS) as a novel therapy for patients with treatment resistant depression has been the further characterization of brain systems mediating normal and abnormal mood states as well as those mediating successful and unsuccessful response to various antidepressant interventions using functional neuroimaging. Building on converging evidence implicating the subcallosal cingulate as a critical node within an imaging-based, putative depression network model, the subcallosal cingulate white matter was targeted for initial proof-of-principle testing of DBS in patients with treatment resistant major depression, adopting neuromodulation techniques routinely used to treat Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. The theoretical and data-driven foundation for this new treatment strategy as well as results from ongoing experimental efficacy and mechanism studies will be presented.

For more information about Dr. Mayberg, click here.

Add to your calendar