Method for treating neurological/psychiatric disorders with stimulation to the subcaudate area of the brain

Abstract

A method for treating a patient with a neurological or psychiatric disorder, comprising applying stimulation to at least a portion of the patient's subcaudate white matter of the subcaudate area under conditions effective to provide the patient with at least a partial relief from the neurological or psychiatric disorder. The stimulation may be electrical and/or pharmacological.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for the treatment of neurological/psychiatric disorders in a patient, the method comprising administration of-stimulation to the subcaudate area of said patient for a time, duration and frequency to decrease or substantially ameliorate the neurological/psychiatric disorder. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the neurological/psychiatric disorder is selected from the group consisting of cognitive, affective, circadian, endocrine sleep, mood, apathy, aggressive behavior, Attention deficit behavior, schizophrenia, pain, movement, judgment and cognition, learning and memory disorders. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said neurological/psychiatric disorder is selected from the group consisting of major depression, bi-polar disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, Schizophrenia, Catatonia and OCD. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said neurological/psychiatric disorder is Schizophrenia. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein said neurological/psychiatric disorder is depression. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said stimulation is applied to white matter of the subcaudate nucleus. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said stimulation affects tracks in the subcaudate region. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein said stimulation modulates neural activity in affected circuitry to improve neurological and/or psychiatric function. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said stimulation is deep brain stimulation selected from the group consisting of electrical stimulation, pharmacological stimulation, magnetic stimulation, thermal stimulation, ultrasonic stimulation and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said electrical stimulation may be implemented by providing pulses to electrodes targeting areas of said brain, said pulses having amplitudes of about 0.1 to about 20 volts, pulse widths varying from about 0.02 to about 500 microseconds, and frequencies varying from about 1 to about 2500 Hz. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said method comprises the use of one or more pharmacological agents concurrently with a selected stimulation and/or following a selected stimulation. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said method comprises combinations of electrical stimulation and infusion of pharmacological agents.