Researchers are exploring a potential approach to treating depression that involves reversing the direction of brain signals that may be functioning abnormally.

Stanford Medicine scientists have made progress in understanding how transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treats severe depression by reversing the direction of abnormal brain signals. TMS involves applying powerful magnetic pulses to the scalp to stimulate the brain, providing relief to patients who have not responded to standard treatments. Researchers discovered that TMS alters the flow of neural activity in the brain, specifically the direction of signals between key brain regions. By analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data, they observed that depressed patients exhibited reversed brain signal flow compared to healthy individuals. However, after receiving TMS treatment, the direction of neural activity normalized, coinciding with an improvement in depressive symptoms. The findings also suggest that this abnormal flow of brain signals could potentially serve as a biomarker for diagnosing depression and guiding personalized treatment. Further research is needed to validate these findings and explore the wider application of this analytic technique to uncover additional insights into brain activity.