Technology Review: Brain Electrodes Help Treat Depression
Electrically stimulating specific parts of the brain using an implanted electrode can help severely depressed patients, according to two studies published this month. The findings are the latest evidence suggesting that “deep brain stimulation,” a surgical therapy already widely used to treat Parkinson’s disease, could be an alternative treatment for people with severe depression.
Still, experts urge caution in interpreting the results. For one thing, says Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist at Stanford who studies experimental treatments for depression, “no placebo-controlled trials have been done” to confirm how well the therapy works on a larger population.Doctors involved in the studies caution that larger clinical trials are needed to determine how effective and long-lasting the therapy is.
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