New knowledge about the specific brain regions involved in neuropsychiatric disorders is rapidly evolving due to recent advances in functional neuroimaging techniques. The ability to stimulate the brain in awake alert adults without neurosurgery is a real advance that neuroscientists have long dreamed for. Several novel and minimally invasive techniques to stimulate the brain have recently developed. Among these newer somatic interventions, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS) show promise as therapeutic tools in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. This article reviews the history, methodology, and the future of these minimally invasive brain stimulation (MIBS) techniques and their emerging research and therapeutic applications in psychiatry
Minimally invasive brain stimulation (MIBS); Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS); Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
