Scientists Finally See Inside the 'Black Box' of Depression Treatment

Scientists finally see inside the 'black box' of depression treatment

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive, FDA-approved therapy that uses brief magnetic pulses to treat depression, particularly in patients who do not respond to medication. Yet scientists have long struggled to understand how it works at the level of brain cells and circuits.

Magnetic Pulses Restore Brain Circuits to Treat Depression

Researchers have discovered that accelerated magnetic stimulation selectively targets IT neurons to regrow lost synaptic connections, providing the first cellular-level evidence of how TMS repairs the stress-damaged brain in just 24 hours.

Scientists Finally See Inside the ‘Black Box’ of Depression Treatment

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive, FDA-approved therapy that uses brief magnetic pulses to treat depression, particularly in patients who do not respond to medication. Yet scientists have long struggled to understand how it works at the level of brain cells and circuits. Now, researchers at UCLA Health have opened that black box.