Ian A Cook, MD, Director, Unipolar Depression Research, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, discusses a new depression treatment using gentle brain stimulation and TMS, or transcranial magnetic stimulation, rather than ECT or medication. The treatment was approved by the FDA in 2008.

Reading:
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Fitzgerald PB, McQueen S, Herring S, Hoy K, Segrave R, Kulkarni J, Daskalakis ZJ. A study of the effectiveness of high-frequency left prefrontal cortex transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression in patients who have not responded to right-sided stimulation. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Aug 30;169(1):12-5. Epub 2009 Jul 23.
Demitrack MA, Thase ME. Clinical significance of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in the treatment of pharmacoresistant depression: synthesis of recent data. Psychopharmacol Bull. 2009;42(2):5-38.
Herbsman T, Avery D, Ramsey D, Holtzheimer P, Wadjik C, Hardaway F, Haynor D, George MS, Nahas Z. More lateral and anterior prefrontal coil location is associated with better repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation antidepressant response. Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Sep 1;66(5):509-15. Epub 2009 Jul 9.

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