Clinical symptoms, social functioning, mental status, BMI, mood, and anxious and obsessive symptoms were assessed at 6 months and 24 months post-operation. At 6 months, there were significant improvements in BMI (15.29 ± 2.28 kg/m2) and psychiatric symptoms, with no effects on cognitive ability. At 24 months, BMI continued to improve (17.73 ± 3.54 kg/m2) while improvements in psychiatric symptoms and normal cognitive ability were maintained. Social functioning also improved by the 2-year follow-up. By the end of the study, 12 patients were weight restored, five patients had a 30% BMI increase which brought them to a low-normal range (16.0-18.5 kg/m2), 11 patients had low BMIs (15.0-16.0 kg/m2), and 17 patients had very low BMIs (<15.0 kg/m2). Additionally, 24 of the 28 patients were able to restore normal menses by the end of treatment. 

Deep Brain Stimulation to the Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc DBS) for Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Outcomes

One study on 28 women with treatment-resistant AN investigated the effects of DBS to the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a part of the ventral striatum that affects goal-directed behavior and is thought to be abnormal in AN patients.

Kalamazoo College

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), or invasive neurosurgical implantation of stimulating electrodes into brain structures thought to drive AN pathology, has also been investigated after showing promise in treating other circuit-based psychiatric disorders like major depressive disorder.

Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for Anorexia Nervosa Treatment

Liu, W., Zhan, S., Li, D., Lin, Z., Zhang, C., Wang, T., Pan, S., Zhang, J., Cao, C., Jin, H., Li, Y., & Sun, B. (2020). Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for treatment-refractory anorexia nervosa: A long-term follow-up study. Brain stimulation, 13(3), 643-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2020.02.004

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