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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
Using STN DBS and medication reduction as a strategy to treat pathological gambling in Parkinson's disease
Fabio Bandini1, Alberto Primavera, Matteo Pizzorno
1Department of Neurosciences, Ophthalmology and Genetics, University of Genoa, Via A. De Toni 5, 16132 Genoa, Italy. fbandini@neurologia.unige.it
Abstract:
We describe two patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) who developed clinical criteria of pathological gambling addiction in the setting of increased dopamine replacement therapy (levodopa and dopamine agonist medications). The second patient showed also signs of dopamine dysregulation syndrome, with an addiction to dopaminergic medication. Neither patients responded to the standard therapy for gambling behavior, but dramatically improved after bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and early postoperative withdrawal of dopaminergic therapy. The possible therapeutic role of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) on such a disabling behavior needs to be investigated prospectively.
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