Stimulating Brains

In this episode, we talk with Patricia Limousin about the early days of DBS in the modern era to the current day and about what the future may hold. Building up on episode #4 with Pierre Pollak, we find out how Patricia experienced programming the first bilateral STN-DBS patient, and what has changed over the last 30 years. Professor Limousin has worked at the UCL Institute of Neurology and the Na...

In this episode, Lone Frank shares insight about her book “The Pleasure Shock: The Rise of Deep Brain Stimulation and Its Forgotten Inventor” in which she delved into the academic life of a true pioneer of our field. Robert Heath invented deep brain stimulation in the 1950ies and was a remarkable pioneer of our field. Lone's book takes us on a trip delving deep into the discoveries – but also cont...

In this episode, Günther Deuschl shares insight about his life in neurology and the endeavors to transform deep brain stimulation for movement disorders as established treatment options supported by class one evidence. He has been instrumental in multiple major clinical trials, such as the randomized double-blind clinical trial for DBS to the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's Disease ( Deuschl et...

In this episode, Pierre Pollak shares insight about his life in neurology, music and sports and how he introduced modern-day deep brain stimulation for movement disorders together with Alim Louis Benabid and the team in Grenoble in 1987. After his retirement from academia and neurology, Pierre took up playing piano and spending time with physical activity (cycling, winter sports, etc) – and he men...

In this episode, Marwan Hariz shares insight about why imaging is both the past and the future for deep brain stimulation, how its role of being the “court jester” or “stereotaxy police” emerged and why critical discussions are important for our field.

In this episode, Helen Mayberg shares the experience made when the first major depression patient received deep brain stimulation electrodes, some anecdotes about the past and lots of good advice about the future.

The German submarine sunk a ship that was carrying Freeman and Watts' handbook to Europe, leading to a delayed start of psychosurgery in Germany. Influence of anatomists like Carl Wernicke or Cecile & Oskar Vogt on the field was strong, with eminent figures like Rolf Hassler paving the was to precision in functional neurosurgery. Christian Moll may be the most experienced electrophysiologist in th...