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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy (TMS Therapy) is based on knowledge of
physical principles dating back nearly 175 years. In 1831, Michael Faraday discovered
that a magnetic field could be converted into an electrical current. That discovery
has been applied to create a powerful and focused magnetic treatment coil which can be
used to stimulate the brain.
Since the 1980s, transcranial magnetic stimulation has been used to study the nerve
fibers that carry information about movements from the brain to the spinal cord
and onto the muscles. In the late 1990s physicians began to explore the therapeutic
potential of transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of a variety of
diseases, with depression being the most thoroughly studied to date. Since then,
30 or more randomized, controlled trials studying transcranial magnetic stimulation
as a treatment for depression have been published by investigators throughout the
world 1.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Depression
Transcranial magnetic stimulation for the treatment of depression is a short outpatient
procedure which uses a focused pulsed magnetic field to stimulate nerve cells within the
area of the brain thought to control mood. TMS Therapy is available by prescription only and
performed in a psychiatrist's office under the supervision of a psychiatrist while the patient
remains awake and alert.
The treating clinician positions a treatment coil over the left prefrontal cortex,
the part of the brain thought to be involved with mood regulation. Through the treatment
coil, the NeuroStar TMS Therapy system generates a highly concentrated, magnetic field
which turns on and off rapidly. This magnetic field is the same type and strength
as the magnetic field produced by a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.
Learn how it works.
References:
- Schutter, D. (2009). "Antidepressant efficacy of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in double-blind sham-controlled designs: a meta-analysis." Psychological Medicine 39: 65-75.
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