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A Quicker Treatment for Persistent Depression?

By May 3, 2018No Comments

Researchers at UBC and in Toronto have shown that a three-minute version of a brain stimulation treatment for hard-to-treat depression is just as effective as the standard 37-minute version.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) uses magnetic field pulses to non-invasively stimulate a part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is associated with mood regulation. The researchers compared the standard high-frequency brain stimulation with a newer form of rTMS called intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS), which mimics the brain’s natural rhythms, and was done in just one-tenth of the standard treatment time.