A pilot study of deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proven its effectiveness in different types of psychiatric disorders, neuropathic pain and neurodegenerative diseases. Schizophrenia remains one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, with 30 percent of the patients’ refractory to the treatment. Study authors hypothesized that DBS may be an effective treatment in patients with refractory schizophrenia. This study’s purpose is to describe the protocol and the preliminary results of the first seven cases of schizophrenia treated with DBS.