Nucleus Accumbens-Anterior Limb of Internal Capsule Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: An Open-label Pilot Study

We conducted an open-label pilot study of bilateral nucleus accumbens-anterior limb of the internal capsule (NAc-ALIC) deep brain stimulation (DBS) in three patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Clinical symptoms, global functioning, cognition, stimulation parameters and intracranial local field potential (LFP) were assessed over 24 weeks. Two patients met the prespecified clinical response criterion, defined as a [≥]40% reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score, by week 8 and showed PANSS reductions of 69.0% and 69.4%, respectively, at week 24.

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