When you come to the Functional Neurosurgery Center, you work with a diverse team of specialists. We talk with you about your condition and how we can treat your symptoms. 

Functional neurosurgery treats neurological conditions that stop responding to medicines. Our neurosurgeons pinpoint the areas in the nervous system or brain where your symptoms begin. We use specialized procedures to disrupt the abnormal electrical signals that cause movement disorders or seizures. 

We provide advanced surgical treatment and symptom management for patients with: 

• Dystonia
• Epilepsy
• Essential tremor
• Parkinson’s disease

Our functional neurosurgery team uses the best procedure or surgery for your specific condition. Treatment options include: 

• Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
  Your neurosurgeon implants a small device under the skin in your chest. The device sends electrical signals to the brain areas causing your symptoms. These signals prevent the abnormal brain messages that cause shaking, stiffness and tremors. Read more about deep brain stimulation.
• Refractory epilepsy surgery
  Once your care team identifies the area of your brain where seizures begin, it can be removed or inactivated. Your doctor can surgically remove the brain section (craniotomy) or burn it with a laser (stereotactic laser ablation). Read more about epilepsy surgery.
• Responsive neurostimulation
  Similar to deep brain stimulation, your surgeon implants a small programable device your brain. The device monitors your brain activity, detects abnormal signals that could cause a seizure and sends electrical pulses to prevent a seizure.
• Vagus nerve stimulation
  This procedure helps prevent seizures. Your doctor implants a small device under the skin of your chest. A wire is threaded from the device under your skin to the left vagus nerve. When activated, the device sends electrical signals along the vagus nerve to your brainstem, which then sends signals to certain specific areas in your brain.

Your neurologist and neurosurgeon will help you decide if surgery is right for you. If you choose to have surgery, we take extra care to meet all your needs: 

• Nurse coordinators communicate with you often — before and after surgery.  
• We streamline the pre-surgery screening process. 
• We do whatever we can to reduce stress for you and your family.  
• We facilitate recovery after surgery. 
• We minimize transportation burdens if you are traveling to Portland for surgery by: 
  • Finding local pre-surgery screening options for you  
  • Coordinating appointments with other providers close to your home 

At the Providence Brain and Spine Institute, we value our network of referring physicians and make every effort to partner with providers and tailor treatment and surgery for each patient.

It is our goal to be your partner as your patient goes through surgery, and to transition the patient back to your care once appropriate. And for patients traveling a significant distance to Portland, we seek to minimize transportation burdens by coordinating appointments across disciplines in one visit.

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