What did the research discover?
Researchers tested a new treatment for depression called Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT). This treatment uses intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), a type of brain stimulation already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment-resistant depression. SAINT was designed to work faster and more effectively by using multiple treatment sessions per day, higher doses of stimulation, and precise brain targeting using functional MRI (fMRI) scans.
The study included 22 people with treatment-resistant depression. Each participant received 50 treatment sessions over five days, with 10 sessions per day. The stimulation was aimed at a specific brain region that affects mood.
One person withdrew from the study, so 21 people completed the treatment. Out of these, 19 participants (90.5%) experienced remission, meaning their depression symptoms improved significantly. When including the participant who left, 86.4% of all participants still met the remission criteria.
The treatment was well tolerated, with no serious side effects. Some people experienced mild discomfort or fatigue, but no negative effects on memory or thinking were found.
How can I apply this information?
The study suggests that SAINT may be a fast and effective treatment for severe depression, especially for people who have not improved with other treatments. The high remission rate was better than standard brain stimulation, antidepressants, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
However, this was a small study and did not compare SAINT to a placebo treatment. More research is needed to confirm how well SAINT works. Future studies will test larger groups of people in controlled trials to make sure the effects are real and not due to expectations.
Right now, SAINT is still experimental and not widely available. If future studies confirm these findings, it could become an important new option for people with severe depression.
Source:
Cole EJ, Stimpson KH, Bentzley BS, Gulser M, Cherian K, Tischler C, Nejad R, Pankow H, Choi E, Aaron H, Espil FM. Stanford accelerated intelligent neuromodulation therapy for treatment-resistant depression. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 1;177(8):716-26. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32252538/
