What is TMS?

What is TMS?

What is TMS?

A common question asked is what is TMS or what is rTMS? TMS is an acronym that stands for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. This is a cutting-edge treatment for major depressive disorder, treatment resistant depression, and OCD. TMS has a long history and the use of magnetic pulse fields to stimulate neuronal tissue is mainly based on Faraday’s concepts of electromagnetic induction from research done in 1831. Research was then done on humans in 1896 by D’Arsonval.

Like most treatments the use of TMS came about by chance. In 1902, Adrian and Berthold Pollacsek Beer in 1902 used a magnetic stimulation to treat “Depression and neuroses.” In 1992, a researcher from Poland named Zyss published a paper questioning the need for a seizure to obtain therapeutic effects of ECT and raised the hypothesis that magnetic stimulation of the brain could be a new psychiatric therapeutic tool.

A lot has happened since then and TMS was approved by the FDA in 2008 for the treatment of patients with medication-refractory unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) who had failed on adequate pharmacological trial.

Essentially, TMS is a treatment which stimulates cortical neurons via a magnetic pulse which causes small electrical currents in the prefrontal cortex which activates deeper brain regions. Repeated activation of the left prefrontal cortex through rTMA has been clinically proven to produce an antidepressant effect to help relief symptoms of depression.

We hope that this answers your question of what is TMS. If you would like to contact us for a free consultation, please click here.

Related Posts

/

Non Invasive Depression Treatment

Non Invasive Depression Treatment When antidepressants and therapy have failed, many search for non invasive depression treatment. There are invasive treatments for depression such as electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS). These can be helpful in extreme cirumcstances, but most people do not wish to undergo anesthesia or surgery […]

/

Other Treatments for Depression

We are commonly asked “What are other treatments for depression?” If medications aren’t effective, and they are helping with depression, then what are other treatments for depression? If medications are ineffective, therapy can utilized to help with depression (CBT – cognitive behavioral therapy, IPT – interpersonal therapy, psychodynamic therapy, behavioral activation). If therapy is not […]

/

Different types of therapy for depression

Different types of therapy for depression There are different types of therapy (or treatment) for depression. There is medications which include SSRIs like Prozac (fluoxetine), Paxil (Paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline), Lexapro (Escitalopram), SNRIs like Effexor (Venlafaxine) or Cymbalta (duloxetine) and other medication like Wellbutrin (buproprion) or Remeron (Mirtazapine).  Alternative medication treatment include Ketamine infusions are being […]