Medical researchers at QIMR Berghofer in Australia have made a major breakthrough in treating depression using a personalized form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This advanced therapy uses brain scans to tailor treatment for each person’s unique brain structure, offering renewed hope for those who haven’t responded to traditional medications or therapy.
The findings, published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, show that this customized approach can significantly improve symptoms of depression—even in patients who have struggled for years without success.
TMS is a non-invasive treatment that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate specific areas of the brain. It’s already approved for depression, but traditional TMS methods often target the same general area of the brain in every patient.
The QIMR Berghofer team changed that approach by using each person’s MRI scan to find the exact brain location where stimulation would be most effective. They believe that even a tiny difference—just a few millimeters—in the stimulation site can make a big difference in outcomes.
Over the past three years, the Clinical Brain Networks laboratory at QIMR Berghofer treated people with depression by first scanning their brains and then giving them between 20 and 30 sessions of tailored TMS over several weeks.
The results were impressive: over half of the participants saw their symptoms cut in half, and about one in three achieved full remission—meaning they no longer met the criteria for depression. “This is particularly exciting for people who have not responded to standard treatments like medication or talk therapy,” said Dr. Luke Hearne, a neuroscientist on the research team.
The study also found that patients with straightforward depression responded more strongly than those with more complex mental health or neurological conditions, such as bipolar depression.
Dr. Hearne emphasized that personalization is key to the success of this approach. “The brain is incredibly complex, and even millimeter-level adjustments in stimulation sites can make a significant difference,” he explained. “By tailoring TMS to each person’s brain, we’re seeing better results than traditional methods.”
Associate Professor Luca Cocchi, who led the research, highlighted the real-world impact of their findings. “This work shows how modern neuroscience can directly improve people’s lives,” he said. “Seeing patients get relief after years of struggling with depression is incredibly rewarding.”
The research team now hopes to begin large-scale clinical trials to confirm the effectiveness of this personalized TMS therapy. They are also aiming to make it more widely available, especially for people living in rural or underserved communities who may not have access to specialized mental health services.
In summary, this personalized brain stimulation method represents a promising new direction in the treatment of depression. By matching therapy to each individual’s unique brain patterns, researchers are not only increasing success rates but also bringing fresh hope to patients who have long felt out of options.
If you care about mental health, please read studies about 6 foods you can eat to improve mental health, and B vitamins could help prevent depression and anxiety.
For more health information, please see recent studies about how dairy foods may influence depression risk, and results showing Omega-3 fats may help reduce depression.
The research findings can be found in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
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