Stimulating the brain with electrical or magnetic currents provides alternative methods of treating devestating psychiatic illnesses. There are now over a half-dozen methods in regular use or development that use devices to modulate brain activity, often referred to as 'neuromodulation.' This includes one of the oldest treatments in psychiatry -- electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and some of the newest. The FDA has recently approved Vagas Nerve Stimulation (VNS) for severe depression that does not respond to conventional treatment with drugs and therapy. In psychiatry, the primary focus of neuromodulation is treatment resistant depression, or 'TRD.' Studies are underway with techniques such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in TRD, but other psychiatric disorders, such as obsessive compulsive disorder, and chronic pain syndromes, are also under study.
Neuromodulation refers to a class of medical procedures used to modulate (stimulate or change) the function of the nervous system for the relief of the symptoms of depression, bipolar disorder and related illnesses.
Neuromodulation procedures include:
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