[Psychiatric indications of deep brain stimulation]

Introduced at the end of the 1980s, high-frequency deep brain stimulation has shown its efficacy in several neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease, dystonia and essential tremor, in which cortico-subcortical circuit dysfunction is strongly implicated. The existence of psychiatric symptoms in patients with these syndromes has led to the use of this technique in psychiatric disorders, and especially in severe refractory obsessive-compulsive disorders, even though the anatomical target is still controversial. Other potential indications include refractory chronic depression.