Abstract
Neurostimulation techniques have contributed to neural models of motor, cognitive, affective and volitional functions by elucidating their biophysical underpinning. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is particularly significant in this regard because it can both probe and modulate activity in dysfunctional neural circuits in patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders (Lozano and Lipsman, 2013) These are increasingly being understood as disorders caused by overactivity or underactivity in critical nodes of these circuits. DBS can restore circuit integrity in motor disorders such as Parkinson's disease and mood disorders such as major depression when they have been resistant to pharmacological treatment. Unilateral or bilateral stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus interna to modulate dysfunction in the basal ganglia has resulted in significant improvement in motor function for many patients with Parkinson's and other movement disorders. Although it is still experimental for treating psychiatric disorders, stimulation modulating overactive regions of the prefrontal cortex and underactive regions of the subcortical reward system has resulted in improved mood and relief of anhedonia and avolition in some patients with depression.
Highlights
Neurostimulation techniques have contributed to neural models of motor, cognitive, affective and volitional functions by elucidating their biophysical underpinning
Many philosophers argue that agency presupposes that our actions are not generated by causal routes that bypass conscious control of the mental states that issue in them (Mele, 1995, 2009; Fischer and Ravizza, 1998, p. 236)
Insofar as the stimulating system integrates with circuits regulating somatosensory and proprioceptive feedback from the body to the brain, it can restore the phenomenology of agency, the feeling of being in control of one’s actions
Summary
Neurostimulation techniques have contributed to neural models of motor, cognitive, affective and volitional functions by elucidating their biophysical underpinning. By altering functions in the neural circuits that mediate mental and motor capacities, DBS challenges the philosophical conviction that we have conscious control of our behavior. By ensuring that the neural circuits mediating motor, cognitive, affective and volitional functions are neither overactive nor underactive, the modulating effects of DBS can release constraints on the ability to initiate and execute action plans.
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