The effect of deep brain stimulation in children and adults with autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental and pervasive developmental disorder characterized by major impairments in social communication and interaction, stereotyped and ritualistic behavior, and deficiency in sensory activity. Children and adults with ASD show deficit in several domains such as cognition, memory, attention, emotion recognition and regulation, and social skills. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) on children and adults with autism spectrum disorder. MethodsThis study was a systematic review. PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library and Web of sciences were searched using terms for ASD and DBS. Eleven studies were selected for review. These studies investigated the effect of deep brain stimulation in reducing symptoms of ASD. ResultsThere have been 7 published articles about patients who underwent DBS for ASD accompanied by life threatening self-injurious behavior, not alleviated by antipsychotic medication. Also, 4 studies investigated autism-like behaviors. The target included the anterior limb of the internal capsule, globus pallidus internus, and basal latera nucleus of the amygdala. The patients’ age ranged between 6 and 37 years. ConclusionResults of this systematic review showed that DBS might be effective for severe, medically refractory symptoms in children and adults with autism spectrum disorders. Current evidence showed that the number of symptoms such as repetitive and compulsive behavior, obsessive thought, aberrant behavior, and self-injurious behaviors decreased after DBS. Further studies are suggested to be conducted on this topic.