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Updated: Mar 12, 2026
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Published on: July 13, 2019
Thalamic deep brain stimulation decelerates automatic lexical activation.
Felicitas Ehlen1, Isabelle Vonberg1, Hannes O Tiedt1
1Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology, Motor and Cognition Group, Campus Benjamin Franklin (CBF), Hindenburgdamm 30, 12000 Berlin, Germany.
Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for essential tremor may impair verbal fluency by disrupting word clustering. This effect is linked to anterior thalamic stimulation, potentially affecting automatic lexical processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Neurology
Background:
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the thalamic ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) treats essential tremor.
- Previous reports suggest DBS may cause verbal fluency deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how VIM-DBS affects cognitive processes underlying verbal fluency.
- Specifically examining the impact on word clusters and switches.
Main Methods:
- Thirteen essential tremor patients with VIM-DBS underwent verbal fluency tasks with stimulation ON and OFF.
- Performance was compared to 15 healthy controls.
- Electrode position was correlated with stimulation effects.
Main Results:
- Essential tremor patients showed lower word output than controls.
- VIM-DBS worsened word output by increasing intervals within clusters, not affecting switches.
- This effect correlated with more anterior electrode placement.
Conclusions:
- VIM-DBS influences verbal fluency dynamics, specifically word clustering.
- Thalamic stimulation may perturb automatic lexical co-activation, especially when anterior.
- Findings suggest a role for the thalamus in lexical processing.
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