title: Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for the treatment of addiction.
abstract: Despite novel medications and other therapeutic strategies, addiction to psychotropic substances remains one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. In this review, beginning with an introduction of deep brain stimulation (DBS), we highlight the importance of the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in the context of the reward circuitry and addictive behavior. We will provide a short historic overview of other neurosurgical approaches to treat addiction and describe the experimental and preclinical data on DBS in addiction. Finally, we call attention to key ethical issues related to using DBS to treat addiction that are important for future research and the design of clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany. ulfmueller@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ulf J
authors.initials: UJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Voges
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Steiner
authors.forename: Imke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Galazky
authors.forename: Hans-Jochen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Heinze
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: Jared
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pisapia
authors.forename: Casey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Halpern
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: Bernhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bogerts
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuhn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000941:ethics / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000503:physiopathology; D016896:Treatment Outcome