Deep Brain Stimulation May Unlock the Cure to Tourette’s Syndrome

Tourette’s syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes individuals to make involuntary movements and loud noises. There is currently no cure for Tourette’s syndrome; however, specialists at the University of Florida's Center for Movement Disorders are looking to change that. Specialties at the center are performing experimental surgery in Tourette’s patients.  The procedure, deepbrain stimulation (DBS), is currently used in patients with movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease or tremors.

Deep brain stimulation is based off the delivery of electricity and works by implanting small electrodes into the brain in order to stimulate affected regions in patients with movement disorders. The electrodes are attached to an impulse generator and the generator, which is also referred to as a pacemaker, provides electrical impulses to the affected regions of the patient’s brain. The connections between neurons are affected by the impulses which stop the abnormal activity that the patients are presenting with.

While DBS has been performed in over 100,000 patients since 1997 it has never been performed in Tourette’s patients. The underlying neurology in Tourette’s patients is different from that of other conditions treated with DBS because it combines both emotion and motor activity. Specifically, in Tourette’s patients the movement is not there all the time; the patients have a buildup, tic, and an urge and until they can move the patients do not feel better. The only current available treatments for Tourette’s syndrome are behavioral therapy and drug medications; however, these treatments only alleviate the severity of the tic they do not prevent the tics all together.

In September 2014 DBS was performed in a patient with Tourette’s syndrome for the first time. Additionally, the patient had a new grid-like device implanted on top of her brain. This device is intended to gather information from the patient’s brain that can hopefully lessen her tics, and possibly someday stop them. Over the next six to twelve months the patient’s brain activity will be monitored with the grid providing key insights into the underlying cause of her Tourette's syndrome. Understanding the underlying causes of the syndrome will allow doctors to regulate the electrical impulses to in order to manage and hopefully eliminate the tics all together.

This article really caught my attention me because I am very interested in neurological disorders and learning more about them. Tourette’s syndrome is an interesting and difficult disorder because of both the physical and emotional combination. It will be interesting to see over the next several months how well DBS works in this patient. I am hopeful that this procedure will be the next step in learning not only more about the disorder but will be able to eliminate the symptoms experienced by Tourette’s patients.  

Main Article: http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/27/health/deep-brain-stimulation-tourettes/index.html?hpt=he_bn3

Secondary Article: http://tsa-usa.org/dbs/DBSfall09x.html