The Future of Personalized Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Abstract

Over a billion individuals worldwide suffer from neuropsychiatric disorders, many of which are resistant to traditional medications and therapy. Both invasive and non-invasive electrical stimulation have emerged as promising treatment options in recent years since they have been shown to attenuate neuropsychiatric symptoms by modulating the underlying abnormal brain network activity. However, neurological disorders manifest differently across individuals and the way brain activity and patient symptoms respond to stimulation is highly individualized. In addition, brain activity is not constant over an individual’s lifetime. Changes due to development, aging, and the progression of chronic conditions need to be taken into account. All of this reveals the need for personalized treatments that can adapt to brain activity dynamics.