Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 26, 2026

Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
The ethics of sham surgery in Parkinson's disease: back to the future?
Teresa Swift1, Richard Huxtable
1Centre for Ethics in Medicine, University of Bristol, UK. teresa.swift@blueyonder.co.uk
Abstract:
Despite intense academic debate in the recent past over the use of 'sham surgery' control groups in research, there has been a recent resurgence in their use in the field of neurodegenerative disease. Yet the primacy of ethical arguments in favour of sham surgery controls is not yet established. Preliminary empirical research shows an asymmetry between the views of neurosurgical researchers and patients on the subject, while different ethical guidelines and regulations support conflicting interpretations. Research ethics committees faced with a proposal involving sham surgery should be aware of its ethical complexities. An overview of recent and current placebo-controlled surgical trials in the field of Parkinson's Disease is provided here, followed by an analysis of the key ethical issues which such trials raise.
Related Concept Videos
Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
Parkinson's Disease: Treatment
Parkinson's Disease is primarily a result of the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. The cornerstone of its...
Parkinson's Disease: Overview
Parkinson Disease ll: Pathophysiology
Parkinson Disease l: Introduction
