Electrical Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy and Emerging Applications

Electrical brain stimulation is an established therapy for movement disorders, epilepsy, obsessive compulsive disorder, and a potential therapy for many other neurologic and psychiatric disorders. Despite significant progress and FDA approvals, there remain significant clinical gaps that can be addressed with next generation systems. Integrating wearable sensors and implantable brain devices with off-the-body computing resources (smart phones and cloud resources) opens a new vista for dense behavioral and physiological signal tracking coupled with adaptive stimulation therapy that should have applications for a range of brain and mind disorders. Here, we briefly review some history and current electrical brain stimulation applications for epilepsy, deep brain stimulation and responsive neurostimulation, and emerging applications for next generation devices and systems.

Automated summary

Electrical brain stimulation is an established therapy for movement disorders and epilepsy, with potential applications for a range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The integration of wearable sensors and implantable brain devices with computing resources allows for dense tracking of behavioral and physiological signals, providing adaptive stimulation therapy for various brain and mind disorders. Next generation systems show promise in addressing clinical gaps and expanding the applications of electrical brain stimulation.