The Amazing Brain: Deep Brain Stimulation

Posted on August 1st, 2019 by Dr. Francis Collins

August is here, and many folks have plans to enjoy a well-deserved vacation this month. I thought you might enjoy taking a closer look during August at the wonder and beauty of the brain here on my blog, even while giving your own brains a rest from some of the usual work and deadlines.

Some of the best imagery—and best science—comes from the NIH-led Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, a pioneering project aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. Recently, the BRAIN Initiative held a “Show Us Your Brain Contest!”, which invited researchers involved in the effort to submit their coolest images. So, throughout this month, I’ve decided to showcase a few of these award-winning visuals.

Let’s start with the first-place winner in the still-image category. What you see above is an artistic rendering of deep brain stimulation (DBS), an approach now under clinical investigation to treat cognitive impairment that can arise after a traumatic brain injury and other conditions.

The vertical lines represent wire leads with a single electrode that has been inserted deep within the brain to reach a region involved in cognition, the central thalamus. The leads are connected to a pacemaker-like device that has been implanted in a patient’s chest (not shown). When prompted by the pacemaker, the leads’ electrode emits electrical impulses that stimulate a network of neuronal fibers (blue-white streaks) involved in arousal, which is an essential component of human consciousness. The hope is that DBS will improve attention and reduce fatigue in people with serious brain injuries that are not treatable by other means.

Andrew Janson, who is a graduate student in Christopher Butson’s NIH-supported lab at the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, composed this image using a software program called Blender. It’s an open-source, 3D computer graphics program often used to create animated films or video games, but not typically used in biomedical research. That didn’t stop Janson.

With the consent of a woman preparing to undergo experimental DBS treatment for a serious brain injury suffered years before in a car accident, Janson used Blender to transform her clinical brain scans into a 3D representation of her brain and the neurostimulation process. Then, he used a virtual “camera” within Blender to capture the 2D rendering you see here. Janson plans to use such imagery, along with other patient-specific modeling and bioelectric fields simulations, to develop a virtual brain stimulation surgery to predict the activation of specific fiber pathways, depending upon lead location and stimulation settings.

DBS has been used for many years to relieve motor symptoms of certain movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. More recent experimental applications include this one for traumatic brain injury, and others for depression, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease, and chronic pain. As the BRAIN Initiative continues to map out the brain’s complex workings in unprecedented detail, it will be exciting to see how such information can lead to even more effective applications of to DBS to help people living with a wide range of neurological conditions.

Links:

Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/NIH)

Video: Deep Brain Stimulation (University of Utah, Salt Lake City)

Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and Other Movement Disorders (NINDS/NIH)

Butson Lab (University of Utah)

Show Us Your Brain! (BRAIN Initiative/NIH)

Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative (NIH)

NIH Support: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke