aerchov
LEFT and RIGHT-handed people with treatment-resistant depression improve equally with rTMS
Interestingly, handedness (i.e., whether an individual is right or left handed) might indicate which side of the brain/body is more dominant. Potentially, this could affect the intensity of stimulation that left or right-handed people need. Additionally, rTMS is delivered to the left side of an individual’s head. This region of the brain controls the right side of your body — raising the question as to whether rTMS is equally effective for left and right-handed people. This could have important impacts for depression treatment.
Towards Competency-Based Medical Education in Neurostimulation
Competency-based medical education (CBME) is an emerging model of training for medical students. Instead of relying simply on the time spent in residency, CBME focuses on having residents achieve necessary skills such that they would be able to perform competently (successfully) and independently in their selected specialties. A group of residents, academic faculty, and clinical faculty at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have come together to create a roadmap as to how to apply CBME specifically to interventional psychiatry – which includes the practice of electroconvulsive therapy and rTMS.
Who may be most likely to benefit from repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)?
Even though repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is largely effective at treating depression even for those who do not respond to antidepressants, there is still a fraction of individuals who do not improve with rTMS. Predicting who may respond best to rTMS may help clinicians and patients make better choices as to what treatments to pursue, with the ultimate hope to better treat depression. Trevizol et al. (2020) used data from a clinical trial run by the NINET Lab at UBC called THREE-D to determine if there are characteristics that can help predict whether someone would benefit from rTMS.
Can accelerated rTMS (iTBS) be used in place of ECT with severely depressed patients to achieve the same results?
Paper authors: Michelle Goodman, Alisson Trevizol, Gerasimos Konstantinou, David Boivin-Lafleur, Ram Brender, Jonathan Downar, Tyler Kaster, Yuliya Knyahnytska, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez, Daphne Voineskos, Zafiris Daskalakis, Daniel Blumberger Year of paper publication: 2025 Post authors: Alice Erchov, Sarah Kesler, Fidel Vila-Rodriguez Download the research article: Goodman et al. (2025) Extended course accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation as […]
Accelerated magnetic seizure therapy (aMST) for treatment of major depressive disorder: A pilot study
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is often the recommendation for severe and treatment-resistant depression. However, treatments need to be spaced out over long periods of time to prevent cognitive side effects. Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) uses magnetic—not electrical—stimulation to similarly treat depression. Because of its unique approach and less side effects when compared to ECT, researchers wonder if MST treatments can be safely and effectively accelerated to reduce treatment time.
Early symptom improvement at 10 sessions as a predictor of rTMS treatment outcome in major depression
Not improving after investing time, money, and energy into a treatment for depression is, understandably, difficult. Being able to predict who will respond to what treatment would help clinicians and patients personalize treatment approaches. This could help reduce these frustrations and, hopefully, more effectively treat depression. This paper looked at whether early symptom improvement would be able to reliably predict whether someone will respond to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS).
Effect of combined yoga and transcranial direct current stimulation intervention on working memory and mindfulness
Both yoga and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) have been shown to improve mood and cognition. Though, we are unsure if combining the two, together, can improve their positive benefits. This study looked to determine if there is a synergistic effect between yoga and tDCS improved working memory and mindfulness.
Age-Related Changes in Brain Excitability in Healthy Humans
It may be well-known that aging affects nearly every part of our lives – both good and bad. In particular, there have been a growing number of studies that look to see how aging impacts our brain, which is a field of research capable of driving our idea of what is “successful” aging, and how we might be able to support people’s health across the lifespan. Ferrari et al. (2017) use neurophysiological techniques to see how the brain responds to rTMS to investigate this topic.
Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Depression
Depression is known to cause difficulty in daily functioning, self-esteem, sleep, and emotions. With all the research we’ve done with depression, guidelines are needed to organize this information into comprehensible and universal standards of care, informed by our most up-to-date understanding of diagnosis and treatment. The guideline in question comes from India in 2017 and is a keystone because it was the first to officially recommend the use of neuromodulatory treatments (specifically, electroconvulsive therapy; ECT) in severe cases of depression.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in Treatment-Resistant Depression
When all else fails, treatment-resistant depression can be especially debilitating: it is associated with recurring depressive episodes, higher risk of suicide, and a greater amount of hospitalizations. For those who fail ≥ 2 gold-standard antidepressants or otherwise have a need for rapid improvement, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may be the solution. ECT (in its modern sense) has been used for more than 90 years, but the persisting stigma and media portrayal related to treatment procedures mean it is rarely used in clinical treatments – even though it could help many recover from even persistent depression. This review article examines myths and facts about ECT, including its current use, safety, and side effects.