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Parkinson's and Deep Brain Stimulation

   I watched a TED Talk called “Parkinson’s, depression and the switch that might turn them off” by neurosurgeon Andres Lozano. I chose to watched this because I was unfamiliar with deep brain stimulation until we discussed it in class. I wanted to further my knowledge on this subject and the diagnoses that it can be effectively used. Neurosurgery has been around for 7000 years. Originally, people with psychiatric and neurological problems were thought to be possessed by evil spirits. In order to release the spirit, they thought they needed to cut a hole in the skull.

   As we have learned, different parts of the brain control different functions. If there is a dysfunction in a specific area of the brain, there are specific functions that will be impaired. Dr. Lozano became interested in this and how deep brain stimulation can help people with various disorders. Deep brain stimulation is achieved by cutting a hole in the skull to reach an area of the brain with an electrode to turn that area of the brain up or down. The electrode is connected to a remote control that can deliver the electricity when needed. Over time, they have determined that they can do deep brain stimulation to any area of the brain that is not functioning properly. 10,000 patients worldwide have received this for various diagnoses. 

   In patients with Parkinson’s disease, the deep brain stimulation can reduce or eliminate the tremor they experience. When the deep brain stimulation was turned off, the patient had extreme tremors that were interfering with her daily functions, but as soon as the stimulation was turned on, she was calm with no tremors. 


   In addition to Parkinson’s disease, deep brain stimulation can also be used for depression, dystonia, and Alzheimer’s disease. Although there is still more research and clinical trials that need to be completed, the possibility of this working for numerous diagnoses is awesome. I recommend this TED Talk to others interested in various diagnoses and the use of deep brain stimulation. Dr. Lozano was very informative and used real patients he had seen for visual examples of this in use. It was very helpful to see the before and after and how it had greatly impacted the patient after receiving this procedure.




Lozano, A. (n.d.). Transcript of "Parkinson's, depression and the switch that might turn them off". Retrieved from 
    https://www.ted.com/talks/andres_lozano_parkinson_s_depression_and_the_switch_that_might_turn_them_off/transcript?     
    language=en#t-339339

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Logan and I on our first day of OT school.

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