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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a noninvasive method for applying electromagnetic fields to the brain. It is the application through a medical device of a low 0.9 Hertz frequency stimulation by an electromagnetic field to the brain. It requires more than one session. One of the side effects is a tendency to underestimate time. Another side effect may be a slight headache. It is contra-indicated in epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
Tinnitus is a frequent disorder which is very difficult to treat and there is compelling evidence that tinnitus is associated with functional alterations in the central nervous system. Targeted modulation of tinnitus-related cortical activity has been proposed as a promising new treatment approach. We aimed to investigate both immediate and long-term effects of low frequency (1 Hz) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with tinnitus and normal hearing.
What do we really know about the relationship between the experience of pain and risk of developing opioid use disorder? Results from a recent study – the first to directly address this question—show that people with moderate or more severe pain had a 41 percent higher risk of developing prescription opioid use disorders than those without, independent of other demographic and clinical factors.
A few years ago Dr. Diana Martinez and Dr. Marco Diana decided to investigate a new technology that uses magnetic pulses to stimulate brain cells. Both had been trying to develop medications to treat cocaine addiction, and both had come to feel that the pace of progress—their own and others’—was unequal to the urgency of the need. In the new technology, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), they saw a potential treatment that might be developed relatively rapidly for clinical use.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) given in combination with standard cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) improves smoking abstinence rates in the short term compared with CBT plus sham TMS, results from a pilot study show.
In just one year, almost 3 million U.S. teens suffered a major bout of depression, a new government report shows.
“Adolescence is a critical time in a person’s development, and battling with depression can be devastating for teens unless they receive effective treatment,” said Paolo del Vecchio, director of the Center for Mental Health Services at the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Brain stimulation often is used for treatment-resistant depression when medications and psychotherapy are not enough to elicit a meaningful response. It is both old and new again: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been used for decades, while emerging technologies, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), are gaining acceptance.
The underlying premise of neuromodulation is that the brain is an electrochemical organ that can be modulated by pharmacotherapy or device-based approaches, or their combination. ECT is the prototypic device-based neuromodulation approach, and remains one of the most effective treatments for severe depression.
First, researchers are struggling to understand why white individuals, in particular, are doing so poorly with drug abuse. Although there are no definite answers, many speculate that this cohort of patients suffers, in addition to social and economic isolation, from acute job loss. It is known that poverty, stress, and lack of social support are independent risk factors for opioid abuse. Similarly, job loss per se has been found to increase the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death. Of note, recession alone does not increase CVD mortality; however, when recession is associated with job loss, heart attacks, strokes, and deaths rise. This suggests that increases in stress, despair, and possibly time spent engaging in related unhealthy behaviors often seen with financial insecurity (eg, physical inactivity, smoking, drinking, and drug abuse) may be culprits.
