Via Dr Shock, there's a new blog just been started by an anonymous American man who will soon be undergoing deep brain stimulation (DBS) for clinical depression, as part of a blinded trial.
It sounds like it's going to be fascinating reading - to my knowledge this is the first blog of its kind. I've always been a big believer in the important of first-hand reports in psychiatry and neurology, but sadly these are often in short supply compared to the huge proliferation of MRI scans, graphs and clinical rating scales. Sometimes, you just need to listen to people.
The study, called 278-005, also known as BROADEN, will involve electrical stimulation of the subgenual cingulate cortex ("Area 25"), the most commonly chosen target for DBS in depression. The preliminary reports from subgenual cingulate DBS have been extremely positive, but there have been no large scale clinical trials to date.
