Brain magnets may help people suffering from depression New protocol makes it faster

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a technology that involves wearing a helmet or having pads placed over your scalp and having magnetic pulses delivered to specific areas of the brain. It has been a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for treatment of Major Depression since 2007.

 

It is normal to feel sad from time to time, but depression is different. It is a loss of ability to experience any pleasure and a loss of motivation that becomes disabling. It will strike up to 20% of people at some time in their lives. TMS treatment is currently widely available, being administered at clinics, both private and at academic centers, throughout the USA. The brain target for the magnetic energy is the left sided dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (an area of the brain responsible for decision making and attention control). Doctors report the results of treatment to be excellent and side effects to be few.

In 2020, researchers in Stanford discovered an improved method to deliver magnetic energy. They named the new iTBS protocol Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT).

-The doctors changed the treatment protocol from once per day for several weeks to several times a day for one week. 

-They changed the traditional magnetic stimulation (TMS) to intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), which is a distinct way to deliver magnetic energy to patients’ brains.

-They altered the brain target for treatment. Previously, the magnetic energy had been delivered to the left sided dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Rather than a specific region, the Stanford doctors used specialized MRI to identify and target an entire brain circuit: comprising the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (part of the brain that has important roles in sensory processing, emotional decision-making, and motor control).

In 2022, the Stanford team reported on a double-blind, sham controlled study (the gold standard for medical testing) in thirty patients. They employed the iTBS method (instead of the traditional TMS method). iTBS treated patients enjoyed a 52% improvement in depression symptoms, while untreated patients improved by only 11%. 

TMS has been FDA approved in the treatment of numerous maladies including: Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), certain types of migraine headaches (those preceded by an aura (visual disturbances) and the treatment of cigarette (tobacco, nicotine) smoking addiction

Off label uses (in the USA and abroad) have included, Bipolar disorder, Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, Autism, Chronic Pain, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Post stroke rehabilitation and pathologic fearfulness.

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