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Review
. 2018 Mar 7:9:58.
doi: 10.4103/sni.sni_342_17. eCollection 2018.

Deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer's Disease: An update

Majed Aldehri  1   2   3 , Yasin Temel  1 , Ibrahim Alnaami  4 , Ali Jahanshahi  1 , Sarah Hescham  1
Affiliations
Review

Deep brain stimulation for Alzheimer's Disease: An update

Majed Aldehri et al. Surg Neurol Int. .

Abstract

Background: Dementia is among the leading causes of severe and long-term disability worldwide, decreasing the quality of life of individuals and families. Moreover, it induces an enormous economic burden on societies. The most prevalent cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Because current treatment options for AD are limited, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been considered.

Methods: The aim of this review is to survey the current understanding regarding the effects of DBS in AD and possibly shed light on the mechanisms of DBS in AD. We searched PubMed and Cochrane for various studies in English literature describing DBS in patients with AD and relevant preclinical studies. All related studies published from December 2013 to March 2017 were included in this review.

Results: Our understanding of the neural circuitry underlying learning and memory in both rodent models and human patients has grown over the past years and provided potential therapeutic targets for DBS such as the fornix and the nucleus basalis of Meynert. Clinical results indicate that DBS is most beneficial for patients who are in the early stages of AD. Potential mechanisms of action of DBS in AD comprise long-term structural plasticity, including hippocampal enlargement as well as enhanced neurotransmitter release.

Conclusion: It is still premature to conclude that DBS can be used in the treatment of AD, and the field will wait for the results of ongoing and future clinical trials.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; deep brain stimulation; dementia; fornix; memory; nucleus basalis of Meynert.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
An updated schematic representation of the potential mechanisms involved in enhancing memory functions by deep brain stimulation. Stimulation of a target area within the memory circuit (e.g. fornix) can modulate the hippocampus through synaptic plasticity, neurogenesis, volume increase, and increased acetylcholine release
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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