Chaos theories and therapeutic commonalities among depression, Parkinson'sdisease, and cardiac arrhythmias

This report reviews and compares all therapies that have shown efficacy in depression and Parkinson's disease, although some are not in current use an d others are at the experimental stage, They include pharmacological modifi cation of neurotransmitter pathways, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), sleep deprivation, psychosurgery, electrical stimulation through cerebral electr odes, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. Stemming from a pathophysiolog ical model that stresses the brain as an open, complex, and nonlinear syste m, all therapies have been attributed a common mechanism of action. This re port suggests that the therapeutic isomorphism is related to their ability to help the CNS deactivate cortical-subcortical circuits that are dysfuncti onally coupled. These circuits are self-organized among neurons of their in formational subsystem (rapid conduction) and modulating subsystem (slow con duction), Finally, this report extends the analysis and comparison of these therapies to some cardiac arrhythmias. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.