Therapeutic Application of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in Depression

Chae, Jeong Ho; Lee, Chang Uk; Bahk, Won Myong

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a new, noninvasive procedure of a localized pulsed magnetic field to the surface of the head to cause a depolarization of neurons in the brain cortex underneath. Knowledge of the neuroanatomic abnormalities of depression is serving as the background for TMS treatment in depression. Here we provide a summarized review of the therapeutic application of TMS in patients with depression. METHODS: We described the clinical and basic researches of TMS in depression and integrated the future direction using literature review and interview with experts. RESULTS: The field of TMS is beginning to address the issues of using TMS as a novel antidepressant. The ability to excite local areas of brain cortex has raised the possibility of the use of TMS as a novel therapeutic tool for depression. CONCLUSIONS: Many parameters, such as intensity, location, frequency, pulse width, intertrain interval, coil type, duration, numbers of sessions, and interval between sessions remain to be systematically explored. However TMS would be a relatively new and noninvasive method to investigate regional brain activity and to treat depression.