For nearly 20-30 percent of people who suffer from depression, antidepressants and psychotherapy will not be effective. The depression can be endless and debilitating. Many patients may try multiple medications and therapies with no symptom improvement. They may turn to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a last-resort, which involves inducing seizures to stimulate the brain.
UMN researchers with MnDRIVE are offering a new option which could eliminate the need for ECT for many treatment-resistant depression patients, and would provide considerable improvement in their symptoms.
The non-invasive brain therapy is called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). It uses a magnetic coil within a helmet-like device to stimulate the brain with electric currents. Unlike ECT, TMS has few (if any) side-effects, and does not involve seizures. Brent Nelson, M.D., neuromodulation fellow with MnDRIVE and resident in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Psychiatry spoke with MinnPost about the FDA-approved treatment. The University of Minnesota has the first deep TMS device in the upper midwest. Read his full interview here.
“When people face serious depression, their brain gets stuck. It is hard or sometimes even impossible to get out of the depressive state. What we are trying to do with TMS is to increase the brain’s flexibility to get out of that stuck point,” Nelson told MinnPost.
Patients undergo a month of 20-30 minute sessions with the TMS device, which resembles “old-school hair dryers that you’ll see in a salon,” Nelson said.
TMS is fast and simple for patients. The therapy is virtually pain-free aside from some general discomfort from wearing the helmet.
“There is no memory loss, no negative cognitive effects,” Nelson told MinnPost. “And people are starting to show that there are a lot of positive cognitive effects from these treatments. One theory is that if you are lifting someone’s depression, their mind will clear and their memory will get better.”
Nelson’s team began treating patients last week. He is hopeful that TMS therapy will provide those patients significant improvement in their depression.
The device was made possible through the support of MnDRIVE, a partnership between the University and the state of Minnesota to align local businesses with key research areas, like brain conditions. Suzanne Jasberg, M.D., and Kelvin Lim, M.D., also with the Department of Psychiatry, collaborated on the project with Nelson. Other UMN researchers will use the device in the future to study other neurological conditions, like PTSD and facial pain.
The post In The News: UMN Psychiatry, MnDRIVE researchers provide non-invasive brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression appeared first on Health Talk.