A patient has become the first person in the world to benefit from an innovative brain implant stimulator that controls two debilitating conditions – epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Medics have discovered that the use of responsive deep brain stimulation guided by the electrical activity in the ventral striatum can significantly reduce obsessive behaviours and compulsions for long-lasting improvement.
The patient – Amber Pearson, a 34-year-old resident of Albany, Oregon – reported significant improvements in managing her seizures and substantial relief from compulsive behaviours following the life-changing procedure at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).