["Psychosurgery" and deep brain stimulation with psychiatric indication. Current and historical aspects].

Deep brain stimulation is a novel and reversible surgical intervention in the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Recent studies in small samples of patients with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder have come up with promising results. Neurosurgical interventions in psychiatric patients raise ethical questions in the context of historical experiences with traditional and irreversible psychosurgical procedures that need to be discussed.