Depression: They’re successfully testing a new brain stimulation therapy that can be done at home

World Health Organization WHO estimates that at least 280 million people suffer from depression. 18% more than ten years agoindicating an alarming rise in this emotional disorder.

Conventional treatment is carried out with medications, psychotherapy, or both. But recently, a remote clinical trial demonstrated the benefits of a new alternative. People suffering from major depression can relieve their symptoms by taking a form of depression on their own. electrical brain stimulation at home using a device similar to a swimming cap that is gentle on this organ.

Test in phase 2 was published in Natural medicine and their authors found that patients who completed the 10-week treatment were nearly twice as likely to experience depression. go into remission than those in the control group who performed the same procedure with the power turned off. Remission rate in the group brain stimulation was 44.9%compared with 21.8% in the inactive control group.

“This is a possible first-line treatment for depression,” he said. Cynthia FuProfessor of Affective Neuroscience and Psychotherapy at King’s College London and lead author of the study.

He added: “It can also be used for people whose depression has not improved after treatment.” antidepressantsfor those who do not like antidepressants or who They don’t want to do psychotherapy“

According to Mayo Clinic, “depression is emotional disorder what causes the sensation constant sadness and loss of interest when carrying out various activities. Also called major depressive disorder or clinical depressioninfluences feelings, thoughts and behavior person and can cause various physical and emotional problems.

Non-invasive therapy known as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)designed to stimulate areas of the brain associated with mood regulation and passes a weak, painless electrical current through electrodes placed on the scalp.

tDCS causes damage to neurons in frontal areas of the brain are activated simpler, and this effect is believed to have a beneficial effect on the broader brain network affected by depression.

Previous studies have examined the use of tDCS to treat depression, but this study stands out for its effectiveness. long-term scale and its remote designat home, which did not require participants to visit a specialized clinic every day.

In the study, the researchers focused on dorsolateral prefrontal cortexan area of ​​the brain involved in decision making that tends to be less active in people with depression. “tDCS involves a small current that facilitates download or activate brain cells,” said Cynthia Fu.

The neuroscientist and her colleagues studied 120 women and 54 menall diagnosed with major depressive disorder, used a tDCS headset and randomly assigned people to a treatment group or a control group.

The headset contains two electrodes that deliver a weak current of up to 2 milliamps per forehead. Participants in the experimental group received this current on their scalp (almost 0.5% of the amount consumed by a 100-watt light bulb). for 30 minutes5 times a week for the first 3 weeks, then 3 times a week for 7 weeks.

Participants in the control group wore fake headphones, which delivered only a short pulse of current at the beginning of each session, mimicking the sensation of real tDCS but not providing the same stimulation.

After 10 weeks, the treatment group’s scores on a scale measuring depressive symptoms dropped by 9.41 points, while the control group’s score dropped by 7.14 points. Thus, those who received active brain stimulation saw the greatest improvement: the remission rate in this case group accounted for 44.9%compared to 21.8% in the inactive control group.

Headphones were used in addition to other treatments.: Many study participants were taking antidepressants and enrolled in psychotherapy at least six weeks before the study.

Although these conclusions encouragingprevious studies have shown that tDCS This doesn’t work for everyone. For example, last year a study of 150 people found that tDCS It had no antidepressant effect.

In any case, “tests with positive and negative results it is important to explore the potential of the method as a treatment for depression,” he told Nature magazine. Frank Padbergpsychiatrist Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. The next step is to understand why tDCS works for some people and not others and look for ways to improve the situation. personalize treatmenthe added. “Each person needs different doses.” noted the expert.

“Three decades ago, I would never have thought that this stimulation would have any effect on the brain,” Padberg said. But now that tDCS is known to affect brain activity, “I’m pretty sure that one day it may be applied an optimized method in clinical practice,” he emphasized.