Acute Effects and the Dreamy State Evoked by Deep Brain Electrical Stimulation of the Amygdala: Associations of the Amygdala in Human Dreaming, Consciousness, Emotions, and Creativity

Abstract

Acute DBS of Amygdala negative responses and 2-4 V stimulation showed inversely coupled positive and negative responses of the amygdala in either hemisphere which may imply hemispheric dominance of emotional valences without relation to handedness. Due to the unique and complex responses dependent on location and strength of stimulation, we advise that all patients receiving DBS of the amygdala undergo acute stimulation mapping in a monitored setting before selecting therapeutic parameters for chronic stimulation.

Deep Brain Stimulation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Review of the Experimental and Clinical Literature

“…Although neurocircuitry of OCD is well studied in animal and in man [89], and data from pilot patients arguably demonstrate a potential for DBS to improve PTSD in combat veterans, over the last 7 years only 2 patients were recruited and published. Experience in these 2 patients has shown that DBS should be carefully monitored because it may yield different and conflicting clinical responses dependent on the strength of stimulation and exact location of the electrode within the BLa [90]. Although Langevin et al and Koek et al found significant improvements in their first patient following BLa DBS, a CAPS score of 62 is still deemed as rather severe PTSD [91].…”

N,N‐dimethyltryptamine and Amazonian ayahuasca plant medicine

“…Moreover, insights from deep brain stimulations suggest that the amygdala in interaction with other network nodes, such as the hippocampus, the temporal cortex, and the visual association cortex, plays an important role in the formation of vivid mental imagery and integrated sensory experiences. Interestingly, some of the evoked experiences are associated with autobiographical content, some with subconscious feelings of déjà vu, while a significant portion of the experienced states is distinguished by novelty, which are frequently encountered hallmarks of dreamlike states (Lai et al., 2020 ). On the one hand, these findings give rise to the conjecture that the role of dreaming consists in ‘off‐line memory reprocessing’ and ‘memory consolidation’, with the amygdala and the hippocampus being crucially involved in the reactivation of emotional episodic memory (Zhao et al., 2018 ).…”

“…On the one hand, these findings give rise to the conjecture that the role of dreaming consists in ‘off‐line memory reprocessing’ and ‘memory consolidation’, with the amygdala and the hippocampus being crucially involved in the reactivation of emotional episodic memory (Zhao et al., 2018 ). On the other hand, the amygdala is hypothesised to function as the ‘final integration center of dream phenomena’, implying that this center channels ‘creative novel features’ into the dream experience and ‘determines the emotional load of dreams’ by enriching the experienced states with a broad spectrum of emotional nuances (Lai et al., 2020 ).…”

“…Conscious states elicited by DMT and ayahuasca have dreamlike qualities with rich emotional undertones, part of the experiences being dominated by encounters with one's own deep‐seated issues, while on the other hand novel experiences surface arising from one's previous experiences (Frecska, Bokor et al, 2016 ). As pointed out in the section on the neural correlates, hypotheses have been formulated according to which the specific activity patterns during dreamlike states are viewed as signatures indicating the reactivation of emotional memories (Kim et al., 2019 ; Langille, 2019 ; Scarpelli et al., 2019 ; Zhao et al., 2018 ), with the amygdala playing a central role as the ‘final integration center of dream phenomena’ (Lai et al., 2020 ). In the SED‐based model, these activity patterns can be interpreted such that the amygdala, in concert with other brain areas, functions as a receiving unit or read head capable of accessing previously generated memory traces, represented by sequences of ZPF information states.…”

Editorial. Achieving optimal outcomes with deep brain stimulation for posttraumatic stress disorder

“…Achieving optimal outcomes with deep brain stimulation for posttraumatic stress disorder ent contacts were acutely tested at different stimulation strengths, suggesting a unique avenue for studying emotional valence outside PTSD. 12 Psychiatric disorders are complex disease states that are influenced by cognitive, behavioral, and emotional factors, and their underlying pathophysiology is probably attributable to a dysfunction of networks. 13 For example, the brain regions associated with PTSD include the amygdala, hippocampal formation, and prefrontal cortex.…”