Another Approach to Electrical Stimulation of the Brain

For patients who have uncomplicated unipolar depression and who decline medication, transcranial direct current stimulation could be promising.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) involves application of weak direct current that runs from an anode electrode (which increases cortical excitability) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to a cathode electrode (which decreases excitability) over the right DLPFC; the goal is to stimulate diminished right DLPFC activity and reduce hemispheric imbalance in depression. In this Brazilian study, 103 of 120 medication-free patients with nonpsychotic, unipolar, non–treatment-resistant major depression (median duration, 3 months; mean Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale [MADRS] score, 31) completed a 6-week, randomized, controlled study of tDCS (twelve 30-minute sessions) combined with sertraline (50 mg/day). Tre…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Another Approach to Electrical Stimulation of the Brain

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Reviewing Author