Newfound research from the research team at the University of Minnesota Medical School have discovered a potential new mechanism through which mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety can be suppressed in individuals. The basis of this discovery lies in providing electrical stimulation to the brain in a specific region that is attributed to cognitive function that is often related to mental conditions. The researchers were able to set up an algorithm that had the ability to track an individual's patterns of cognition and fucntion. Therefore, when there was a decline in function, a small electrical simulation was transmitted and the brain was able to push past the resistance. The research team related this electrical brain stimulation to an electric scooter. Just in the way an electric scooter begins to sense a slow down or decrease in power, it will quickly generate a small electrical signal to push past the resistance and continue going (ScienceDaily, 2021).
This technology would be a great advantage to have in the medical field, as the one of the researchers said it best, “This could be a totally new approach in treating mental illness. Instead of trying to suppress symptoms, we could give patients a tool that lets them take control of their own minds” (ScienceDaily, 2021). This approach would be beneficial to individuals struggling with mental conditions such as anxiety and depression and allow them to have autonomy over their mind and treatment by providing the option for them to attempt this form of treatment.
Brain electrical stimulation seems like a promising field of treatment as past research has shown electrical stimulation to the inferior thalamic peduncle in individuals diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has reduced their OCD tendencies (Jimenez et al., 2013). This research team is about to begin their clinical trials with their recent discovery in hopes to be able to approve this form of treatment for individuals with cognitive conditions and provide patients with these diagnoses with the autonomy to control the their conditions with this form of treatment.
References:
Jiménez, F., Nicolini, H., Lozano, A. M., Piedimonte, F., Salín, R., & Velasco, F. (2013). Electrical stimulation of the inferior thalamic peduncle in the treatment of major depression and obsessive compulsive disorders. World Neurosurgery, 80(3-4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2012.07.010
University of Minnesota Medical School. (2021, November 1). Researchers boost human mental function with brain stimulation: Study indicates this method could be a new approach to treating a variety of severe mental illnesses. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 26, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211101141757.htm
Alondra,
ReplyDeleteElectrical stimulation seems like an interesting route in the treatment of depression. If we could preemptively stimulate our brain and with some neuroplasticity, we could operantly condition our brain into overcoming depressive events/periods. I was looking into other electrical stimulation related treatments and found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are both being used. Both are used with treatment resistant depression (TRD) as last ditch effort. During ECT, the patient’s brain is electrically stimulated while under anesthesia while in TMS, a patient’s brain is stimulated by magnetic fields (McDonald & Fochtmann, 2019). In a study with 81 subjects with TRD, it was found that ECT is more effective than TMS (Magnezi et al., 2016). Patients’ preference aligned with TMS due to cost-benefit analysis (ECT: $2075 USD; few side effects vs TMS: $814 USD; more side effects). It’s great to learn about all these new treatments for depression and the potential options if we have TRD.
Magnezi, R., Aminov, E., Shmuel, D., Dreifuss, M., & Dannon, P. (2016). Comparison between neurostimulation techniques repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation vs electroconvulsive therapy for the treatment of resistant depression: patient preference and cost-effectiveness. Patient preference and adherence, 10, 1481–1487. https://doi.org/10.2147/PPA.S105654
McDonald, W., & Fochtmann, L. (2019). What is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)? What is ECT? Retrieved November 27, 2021, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/ect#:~:text=Clinical%20evidence%20indicates%20that%20for,as%20bipolar%20disorder%20and%20schizophrenia.
Alondra,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Electrical stimulation is really interesting and is certainly progressing as a treatment for a variety of mental disorders. In the past, "shock therapy" has been a horrifying piece of medical history. Now, electrical stimulation can provide a safe and certainly more gentle way to treat mental disorders.
In particular, electrical stimulation has been used to treat schizophrenia. Transcranial direct current stimulation is a non invasive way to send electrical pulses to certain brain regions (Agarwal et al., 2013). With this technique, the brain is stimulated through the scalp using electrodes. Researchers have found that transcranial direct current stimulation decreases auditory hallucinations in schizophrenic patients (Agarwal et al., 2013). Future studies are needed to determine the long term efficacy of this method. By any means, it seems like electrical stimulation may become a really useful alternative to anti-psychotic medication, especially for those who are effected by the side effects.
Agarwal, S. M., Shivakumar, V., Bose, A., Subramaniam, A., Nawani, H., Chhabra, H., Kalmady, S. V., Narayanaswamy, J. C., & Venkatasubramanian, G. (2013). Transcranial direct current stimulation in schizophrenia. Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 11(3), 118–125. https://doi.org/10.9758/cpn.2013.11.3.118
Alondra,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post! Just going off of what Priscilla mentioned in her comment, do you think because of the history of 'shock therapy' there would be some discomfort around electrical stimulation treatments? It seems like a much safer way to treat mental disorders and has a lot of potential for improved treatments, maybe even for mental illnesses that are typically more difficult to treat. I think it will be cool to see what future studies will be done! Thanks for sharing.