[Deep brain stimulation in psychiatry: ethical aspects]

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been shown to be an efficacious treatment for many neurological conditions and has thus been expanded to psychiatric diseases as well. Following an introduction on the history of DBS in psychiatry, this review summarizes commonly raised ethical concerns and questions on clinical trial design, selection of patients, informed consent and concerns about the possible impact of DBS on an individual's personality. Finally, it highlights the fact that critique on DBS in psychiatry is probably not selectively based on scientific concerns about potential risks; instead, the neurobiological origin of specific psychiatric disorders has been questioned.