February 1, 2015
1 min read
Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmNew Promise of Relief for Major Depression
Deep-brain stimulation has shown potential to help the up to 20 percent of patients with major depression who don’t get relief from medication, psychotherapy or other means
By Gary Stix
Implantation of electrodes deep within the brain is now commonly performed for treatment of the neurological disorders Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. But the use of deep-brain stimulation, as it is known, is expanding. It is now being assessed in as many as 200 patients for major depression—and is being considered for other disorders such as anorexia.
Helen Mayberg, a neurologist from Emory University, has pioneered the use of imaging techniques to understand the functioning of different brain circuits to determine how to tailor various treatments for depression, including deep-brain stimulation, to a patient’s needs.
Learn about her work below in “Deep-Brain Stimulation: A Decade of Progress with Helen Mayberg,” a Webinar put on by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation on January 14, 2014.
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