By love-89.com Recent findings from a phase two clinical trial indicate that individuals suffering from major depression may be able to manage their symptoms by self-administering a form of electrical brain stimulation at home, rather than needing to visit a clinic. Ian Sample, the science editor, reports that patients who participated in a 10-week treatment course were nearly twice as likely to enter remission compared to those who were in a control group and underwent the same procedure with the device turned off.
Cynthia Fu, a professor of affective neuroscience and psychotherapy at King’s College London and the senior author of the study, emphasized the significance of these findings. “This could serve as a potential first-line treatment for depression,” she noted. “It offers an option for individuals whose symptoms haven’t improved with traditional antidepressants or who prefer not to pursue psychotherapy.”
In the trial, 174 participants with major depressive disorder used a device that delivers transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), developed by Flow Neuroscience, which funded the study. This headset features two electrodes that deliver a weak current of up to 2 milliamps to the forehead. The treatment regimen was monitored via video calls, consisting initially of five 30-minute sessions per week for three weeks, followed by three sessions weekly for an additional seven weeks.
While half of the participants received active brain stimulation, the other half unknowingly received “inactive” treatment, which included a brief weak current at the beginning and the end of the session but no further stimulation. According to the results published in the journal Nature Medicine, both groups saw improvements in depression symptoms over the 10-week duration, as measured by standard depression scales. However, those who received active stimulation showed significantly better outcomes, with a remission rate of 44.9% compared to 21.8% in the inactive group.
Globally, an estimated 5% of adults experience depression, with the most common treatments being antidepressants and psychological therapies. Unfortunately, more than a third of individuals with major depressive disorder do not achieve full clinical remission. tDCS is thought to promote greater activity in neurons, particularly in the frontal regions of the brain, which may positively influence the broader brain network involved in depression.
Fu elaborated on the results, stating, “We observed a placebo effect where participants in the inactive group also showed improvement, but there were significantly more individuals in the active treatment group whose depression lessened.”
Notably, the current used in tDCS is at least 400 times weaker than that employed in electroconvulsive therapy, which induces seizures. To minimize the potential risks associated with prolonged stimulation, the device automatically shuts off after 30 minutes.
Myles Jones, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Sheffield, who was not involved in the research, pointed out that despite tDCS being included in NICE guidelines since 2015 as a “safe” treatment, questions about its efficacy persist. He affirmed, “This study illustrates that repeated at-home use of tDCS correlates with a reduction in a critical measure of depression.”
Jones further commented on the growing evidence for tDCS’ effectiveness: “While single sessions have shown mixed results in altering neural activity, extended use over several days or weeks has been clinically proven to aid conditions such as depression and tinnitus.”
It’s worth noting that an earlier version of the article mistakenly included information stating that tDCS had been used to treat conditions like psychosis and eating disorders, which has since been corrected.