Deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder affects language: a case report
A Rosaura Polak1, Anke B Witteveen, Mariska Mantione
1*Department of Psychiatry and §Department of Neurosurgery, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; ‡Arq Psychotrauma Expert Group, Diemen, the Netherlands; ¶Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Background And Importance:
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with refractory neuropsychiatric disorders. Along with symptom improvement, DBS may have concurrent behavioral effects that help to unravel the role of specific brain circuitries in complex human behavior.
Clinical Presentation:
This article reports on 2 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder who received DBS targeted at the nucleus accumbens that resulted in a temporary change of accent and use of vocabulary.
Conclusion:
Changes in accent and speaking manners are most likely related to direct DBS stimulation effects of the electrode targeted at the nucleus accumbens. The shift in accent, resembling foreign accent syndrome after injuries in brain language centers, has not been reported before in the course of DBS. Induction of aggressive vocabulary may be related to transient hypomanic behavior after DBS.
More Related Videos
11:17Protocol for Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation with Symptom Provocation to Treat Obsessive-compulsive Disorder
Published on: November 25, 2025
10:15Utilizing Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Improve Language Function in Stroke Patients with Chronic Non-fluent Aphasia
Published on: July 2, 2013
Related Concept Videos
01:28Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
01:10Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...