Author:

Keywords:

Animals, Behavior, Animal, Disease Models, Animal, Eating, Electric Stimulation, Exploratory Behavior, Humans, Nucleus Accumbens, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Reward, Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Clinical Neurology, Neurosciences, Surgery, Neurosciences & Neurology, Neuromodulation, electrical stimulation, behaviour, nucleus accumbens, ventral striatum, review, OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE-DISORDER, INTRACRANIAL SELF-STIMULATION, MEDIAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX, VENTRAL TEGMENTAL AREA, DEEP BRAIN-STIMULATION, INDUCED DOPAMINE RELEASE, FREELY MOVING RATS, IN-VIVO, EFFERENT PROJECTIONS, SUBSTANTIA-NIGRA, 1103 Clinical Sciences, 1109 Neurosciences, Neurology & Neurosurgery, 3202 Clinical sciences, 3203 Dentistry, 3209 Neurosciences

Abstract:

Electrical stimulation (ES) in the brain is becoming a new treatment option in patients with treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A possible brain target might be the nucleus accumbens (NACC). This review aims to summarise the behavioural and physiological effects of ES in the NACC in humans and in animals and to discuss these findings with regard to neuroanatomical, electrophysiological and behavioural insights. The results clearly demonstrate that ES in the NACC has an effect on reward, activity, fight-or-flight, exploratory behaviour and food intake, with evidence for only moderate physiological effects. Seizures were rarely observed. Finally, the results of ES studies in patients with treatment-resistant OCD and in animal models for OCD are promising.