Denys D.A.J.P.: Deep Brain Stimulation and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Deep brain stimulation or DBS has shown to be effective in therapy-resistant cases of a number of neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, it has not yet been fully determined which psychiatric symptoms respond best to DBS and which brain targets are optimal. Additionally, despite extensive clinical and experimental research, our knowledge of the mechanisms of action of DBS still is limited.
The research program of this group focuses on two main questions. 1. How can DBS be used safely and efficaciously for the treatment of compulsivity, depression, addiction and eating disorders? 2. How does successful DBS alter neurotransmission in these diseases? As these diseases are characterized by profound behavioral alterations due to disturbances of affect, motivation and cognition, our research is focused on neurobiological substrates of motivational behavior in general.
Our approach is translational and multidisciplinary; clinical findings from DBS studies in humans are translated in relevant animal models, in which we observe effects of DBS on behavior and its underpinning neurocircuitry. Our human research tools include methods for intracerebral electrophysiological recordings, functional MRI, SPECT, neuroendocrinology and genetics in combination with neuropsychological tests.
Research Topics • Deep Brain Stimulation in chronic treatment-refractory drug dependence: A pilot study
• EEG and intracranial recording of local field potential in the human Nucleus Accumbens
• Effects of Chronic Fluoxetine use on the developing brain
• Effects of DBS in Nucleus Accumbens in OCD on brain activity and dopamine release
• Effects of DBS in Nucleus Accumbens subareas on neuronal responses in the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits
• Cognitive and behavioural aspects of deep brain stimulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder
• The effect of neurostimulation in rodents in relation to obsessive compulsive disorder
• Effects of neuromodulation in the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits on striatal dopamine release and motivated behaviour
• Geographic variation in efficacy and generalizability of pharmacological treatment in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and OCD
• Neuroimaging of Deep Brain Stimulation in treatment-refractory patients with major depressive disorder
• Neuropsychological effects of deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens on treatment-refractory patients with major depressive disorder
• Quality of life and cost effectiveness of deep brain stimulation in psychiatric disorders
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD): Studies in imagined ugliness
• Deep Brain Stimulation in patients with refractory OCD and refractory major depression: possible immunological and HPA axis changes
• Deep Brain Stimulation in Treatment-refractory patients with Anorexia Nervosa: a Pilot Study
• Feelings of Incompleteness – studies on dopamine in obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Database research and genetics
• The concept of obsessionality: similarities in the obsessive compulsive spectrum
• Body Identity Integrity Disorder (BIID)
• Inhibitory control over emotions: GABAergic regulation of the amygdala
• ADHD: a disconnection between the attentional control and sensory systems of the brain?
• The impact of DBS on the phenomenology of psychiatric patients
• Global neural networks involved in Deep Brain Stimulation and reward-driven behaviour
• Stress, habits and attachment in OCD
• Structural and functional connectivity in attention and motor control
• Misophonia: an imaging study on the neurobiology and the efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy
• Methodological aspects of genetic analyses
• Effects of deep brain stimulation and developmental drug treatment on functional connectivity in rat brain circuits
• Virtual reality GAME for OCD patients
• TRACE - TRacing genetics of Alcoholism and Comorbid disorders in Extended pedigrees