ArticleFrontiers in neurology2018
Executive Functions May Predict Outcome in Deep Brain Stimulation of Anterior Nucleus of Thalamus for Treatment of Refractory Epilepsy.
Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Deep Brain Stimulation of the Anterior Nucleus of the Thalamus in Drug-Resistant Epilepsy in the MORE Multicenter Patient Registry.Neurology · 2023Trial
- Attention and Executive Functions Are the Most Vulnerable Cognitive Domains in Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Prior to Neurostimulation Therapy.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- A method for analyzing the ERP associated with high frequency ANT DBS offset.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2025Article
- Expert opinion on diagnosis and management of epilepsy-associated comorbidities.Epilepsia open · 2024Review
- Complex executive functions assessed by the trail making test (TMT) part B improve more than those assessed by the TMT part A or digit span backward task during vagus nerve stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Case report: Bridging limbic network epilepsy with psychiatric, memory, and sleep comorbidities: case illustrations of reversible psychosis symptoms during continuous, high-frequency ANT-DBS.Frontiers in network physiology · 2024Article
- Emerging Trends in Neuromodulation for Treatment of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Improving the effectiveness of ANT DBS therapy for epilepsy with optimal current targeting.Epilepsia open · 2020Article
- Deep Brain Stimulation for Epilepsy: Biomarkers for Optimization.Current treatment options in neurology · 2019Review
- Deep Brain Stimulation and Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: A Review of the Literature.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDeep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior nucleus of thalamus (ANT) is an emerging treatment option for patients suffering from refractory epilepsy. ANT has extensive connections with hippocampus and retrosplenial cingulum, areas associated mainly with spatial memory and with anterior cingulum which is important in executive functions. As refractory epilepsy is often associated with cognitive decline and neuronal damage, the decreased connectivity between ANT and remote structures might impact on the effects of DBS.
objectiveWe hypothesized that the neuropsychological profile could reflect the connectivity of ANT and further predict the efficacy of ANT DBS. We evaluated the cognitive performance of patients with refractory epilepsy with DBS to evaluate whether neuropsychological profiles could reflect the connectivity of ANT and further predict the efficacy of ANT DBS.
methodSixteen patients with refractory epilepsy treated with ANT DBS with at least 2 years of follow-up were included in the study. Patients underwent a neuropsychological evaluation as a part of the protocol and their clinical outcome was determined by seizure frequency in the last 6 months compared to baseline. The patients were classified as responders if there was a ≥50% reduction in the frequency of the predominant seizure type, otherwise as nonresponders.
resultsThere were 12 responders and 4 nonresponders for ANT DBS treatment in the study population. Nonresponders performed worse than responders in neuropsychological tasks measuring executive functions and attention, such as the Trail-Making Test.
conclusionBetter executive functions and attention seemed to predict improved clinical outcome after the ANT DBS surgery. Based on our preliminary descriptive findings and the anatomical connectivity hypothesis, we suggest that deficits in executive functions may relate to an inferior outcome. This finding might offer new tools for refining the selection of patients with refractory epilepsy scheduled to undergo ANT DBS surgery. Moreover, it highlights the need for further investigations of neural connectivity in epilepsy.
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