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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffDeep brain stimulation is a highly experimental neurosurgical treatment for chronic depression in which the brain is stimulated with electrical impulses. Although it's been approved for several other conditions, deep brain stimulation hasn't been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for depression treatment and is in the early stages of research. Requiring brain surgery, deep brain stimulation is the most invasive form of brain stimulation treatment for depression.
Deep brain stimulation works much like a pacemaker for your brain. With deep brain stimulation, a neurostimulator device is implanted in your chest and electrodes are implanted in your brain. Wires under your skin connect the electrodes to the neurostimulator. The neurostimulator sends electrical signals to your brain, affecting mood centers and possibly improving depression symptoms.
