There is new hope for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients thanks to innovative research that is helping improve deep brain stimulation therapy outcomes. Julia Hum, a 24-year-old woman with severe OCD, struggled for years with intrusive thoughts telling her foods were contaminated. Her condition became so debilitating that she used a wheelchair and had nutrients administered through tubes. However, after pioneering work mapping brain circuits involved in OCD and other conditions, doctors were able to better target Hum’s deep brain stimulator therapy.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and international institutions mapped the nerve networks affected in disorders treated with deep brain stimulation like Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, Tourette’s syndrome and OCD. Looking at over 530 electrodes implanted in over 200 patients, they identified optimal stimulation sites correlated with better outcomes. When they applied these brain maps to adjust the device settings for Hum and two other patients, all three saw major symptom improvements.
Hum credits the therapy tweaks with giving her her life back. She no longer constantly hurts herself to alleviate thoughts and can eat normally again. Intrusive OCD thoughts are now more like an annoyance than taking over her daily functions. She hopes to someday live independently, attend college, have a job and build romantic relationships – milestones she previously saw as unattainable. This pioneering work shows how continually refining deep brain stimulation techniques through big data can transform more lives compromised by neurological and psychiatric conditions.
