tDCS, which we are testing for migraines, may relieve depression

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) has been definitively shown to alter brain connectivity and function. We are still enrolling patients in our double-blind study of tDCS for the prevention of migraines, so please contact us if you are interested.

A group of Iranian researchers used tDCS to treat “treatment-resistant major depression”. The results of this double-blind randomized sham-controlled trial were published in Clinical EEG and Neuroscience.

Patients with less than 50% decrease in the intensity of depression after 8 weeks of treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (drugs like Prozac or fluoxetine, Lexapro or escitalopram, and other) were included in the trial. 16 women and 14 men were randomly allocated to an active group, which received 2-mA stimulation for 20 minutes per session, or the sham group. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used to measure the severity of depression. There were statistically significant differences in the mean Hamilton scores in favor of the active treatment compared to the sham group. The difference in improvement persisted for a month after the treatment ended.

The authors’ conclusion that “tDCS is an efficient therapy for patients with resistant major depression, and the benefits would remain at least for 1 month” may be premature because of the small sample size. However, other studies have also indicated that tDCS may be effective in depression. Considering its low cost and very high safety, tDCS may be worth trying in patients with depression.

The same may apply to patients with migraines since several small studies have found this method effective. We hope that our larger study will confirm these findings. Our study differs from the previous ones and the ones for depression in that patients sue the device at home daily, rather than coming to the clinic to get the treatment. We hope that this difference will result in better outcomes.