ABSTRACT
Electrical stimulation of the peripheral and central nervous system for therapeutic purposes has a long history. Ancient accounts of stimulation from electric fish for treatment of headache were followed by accounts of a ‘cure’ for paralysis by electrical stimulation when electrostatic generators were developed in the 18th century. The future of brain stimulation for seizure control will almost certainly depend heavily on this growing technology base as well as an expansion of our scientific understanding of the disease. Deep brain stimulation for treatment of Parkinson's disease and movement disorders is a more recent therapy. Research on brain stimulation for seizure control will be interdisciplinary. Brain stimulation for seizure control may involve both ‘state estimation’ of the condition of seizure-prone areas of the brain and ‘state transition’ from a preseizure state to a non-preseizure state. The initial rationale for electrical stimulation of the fibers of the auditory nerve was to provide an acoustic sensation to a deaf individual.
