Wires in the brain might help OCD

We've all heard the expression, "You're wired!" But suddenly, it is taking on a different meaning.
Deep brain stimulation — where two skull wires are put into the brain — soon might function like a mental pacemaker, lifting chronic depression and other disorders.
This highly controversial neurosurgical treatment has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for Parkinson's, essential tremor and dystonia.
Now the surgery, which involves implanting a neurostimulator device in the patient's chest and electrodes in the brain, has been authorized for obsessive compulsive disease.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found 100 patients treated with deep brain stimulation functioned better than those treated simply with medication.
"We actually believe it slows down the natural course of the disease, although that is under investigation," says Dr. Christopher Duma, medical director of the brain tumor program at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, where he has perfected techniques for general brain surgery and Gamma Knife radiosurgery cduma.com
Question: Are you wiring the same parts of the brain as you do to treat Parkinson's?
Answer: Now the wire is put in a different area of the brain, the area that controls our moods and thoughts and compulsivity. It can always be removed, varied or modified. We are not damaging anybody's brain.
Question: Is every OCD patient a candidate?
Answer: This is so very new, the only way it is safe and properly done as a surgeon is in conjunction with a psychiatrist or group of psychiatrists to decide which patients are candidates.
There is a Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Score that gives us an idea of how bad the patient's symptoms are. The highest score is 30.
We are looking for patients with scores of 25 or more for our initial surgeries. Patients coming from psychiatrists with such scores see this surgery as a last-ditch effort for any normal life. Post-surgical tests show the average score went down 40 percent after surgery, which is why the FDA approved the procedure.
Question: Have you done the surgery at Hoag yet?
Answer: Right now I am accruing patients.
Question: And what type of deep brain stimulation could be used in the future for other conditions?
Answer: Right now the company that makes the stimulator is working on one for obesity. It would affect the satiety area of the brain and make a person feel full.
Other potential treatments include anger management problems.
Question: This sounds very futuristic.
Answer: It is part of a brave new world of treatment. The brain is still a black box.