TMS Media – “The Doctors” December 3 I am excited to share with you that on December 3rd “The Doctors” featured a segment on TMS. Todd Hutton, MD, Medical Director, Southern California TMS Center, was invited to appear with a patient who is doing great 18 months post TMS treatment. I hope you can watch and that this contributes to further awareness …
TMS Effectiveness
TMS effectiveness is something I have spent a fair amount of time researching. Last year I gave two Grand Rounds presentations on this topic at the University of California, San Francisco and at the California Pacific Medical Center. But despite the compelling evidence that, if you have failed two (or maybe three) antidepressant trials for the treatment of your depression, your …
TMS Mechanism of Action – Changes in Brain Connectivity?
TMS’s mechanism of action has been unclear. Transcranial magnetic stimulation affects activity locally in the region of the brain that is stimulated, but does that explain how it works? Since it affects local activity in every patient, why does it not work for everyone? A new article in Biological Psychiatry suggests that it may be changes in brain connectivity that …
TMS Outcomes – Long Term Study
TMS outcomes have seemed favorable for patients with treatment resistant major depression, but what are the long term effects of TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation)? TMS is a non-invasive technique for stimulating brain activity in parts of the brain that seem to be turned off in depression – the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. TMS uses magnets to stimulate the brain and the …
TMS Improves Memory
TMS improves memory. According to a study published in the Aug. 29 issue of the journal Science, “electrically stimulating a portion of the brain that coordinates the way the mind works can enhance memory and improve learning.” The researchers used Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to indirectly stimulate activity in the hippocampus, a key part of the brain involved in the storage …
TMS Not Effective for Depressed Patients with Anhedonia
TMS is a revolutionary treatment for major depression that is being significantly underutilized, but it is also a very expensive treatment that does not work for many patients with treatment resistant depression. One of the major issues impeding the use of TMS is the difficulty identifying patients who are likely to respond to treatment. In an earlier blog post we …