HWN Suggests

Neuroengineers Crack the 'Black Box' of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

The body of research exploring repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a potential therapy in psychiatric disorders, particularly major depressive disorder, is immense and growing at a steady clip. Enthusiasm, however tempered, is justified: the treatment of depression, currently the most disabling medical condition in the United States, remains limited to pharmacological solutions and, if those don't deliver, electro-convulsive therapy (ECT). ECT, while an effective last-ditch intervention with barely a shred of its formative brutality, still requires general anesthesia and can lead to deep side effects including patient confusion, memory loss, and an array of physical symptoms…

read full article

Featured

 An experimental depression treatment uses electric currents to bring relief

The remedy was a new type of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) called "Stanford neuromodulation therapy." By adding imaging technology to the treatment and upping the dose of rTMS, scientists have developed an approach that's more effective and works more than eight times faster than the current approved treatment.

 What Happened When I Zapped My Brain to Assess My Cognitive Health

Clinics are popping up all over the United States offering TMS for wellness, promising improved brain performance. This may sound far-fetched, but the science supporting the idea that TMS improves memory and cognition has real promise, although it comes with caveats

Articles of Interest

A Better Way to Zap Our Brains

Deep-brain stimulation is too invasive to use except in extreme circumstances. But in the second study, researchers used a noninvasive technique called transcranial alternating current stimulation to deliver electrical pulses through electrodes placed on participants’ scalps.

Doctors Treat Depression With Brain Magnets

In TMS therapy, a large magnet is put to the left side of the patient’s head. Magnetic pulses are thought to stimulate areas of the patient’s brain that are underactive and are involved in mood regulation. The patient is awake and alert the entire time. The are few side effects other than occasional headaches. TMS, however, is $998 more expensive than drug therapy, but since it’s a limited-time treatment, the company argues it in two years it is more affordable than additional rounds of drug therapy.

Magnetic Brain Stimulation Can Be Used to Alter How You Perceive Music

Basically, it’s possible to make people feel music more by exciting their brains with magnets.

Scientists: don’t zap your brain with a DIY brain stimulator you built from a 9-volt battery

Cognitive enhancement techniques come in all flavors. Some people believe (naively) in the power of brain training games. Others load up on dietary supplements (also unlikely to work). Then there are the DIY brain stimulators. The technical term is transcranial direct current stimulation (or tDCS), and it involves hooking up electrodes to the skull and then turning on a small electric current, typically powered by a 9-volt battery.

When I Couldn’t Find a Therapist I Liked, I Tried Brain Stimulation

I wouldn't say that TMS is an alternative, it was always my intention to do a combination of TMS, medication, and talk therapy. TMS has helped tremendously with my anxiety and depression.