Monday, May 19, 2008

Experiencing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Filed under: Neurology , Psychiatry

British neuroscientists are working on miniaturizing devices that would be able to deliver high tesla fields to produce magnetic stimulation within the brain, a potential therapy for migraines, and other neurological or psychiatric disorders.

These new brain stimulators, called DC machines, introduce very weak electrical currents. But like TMS, DC also has the same effect of changing the "excitability" of brain cells, either damping down their reactivity or boosting it, which can change the way that the brain responds.

Although the prototype electrical stimulator costs around £5000, the hope is that the costs will fall as more are used. The device is much easier to use than TMS since it does not have to be precisely positioned over the correct brain region, which is currently done with a brain scanner.

The electrical version simply requires two electrodes, colour coded pink and yellow, to be put on head. Then a current passes between them, through the brain.

The method promises to have long lasting results for up to 90 minutes.

"This is a huge advantage of DC because TMS effects only last for a few minutes," says Prof Walsh, who expects the results of his trial next year.

Roger Highfield, a science editor at the Telegraph, got a dose of transcranial magnetic stimulation to experience how the technology can directly influence the brain's ability to function. In the following video Highfield's speech region of the brain is targeted, and successfully interrupted by strong magnetic fields.

More from the Telegraph...

Flashbacks: Medgadget transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) archives...

Picture credit: Brainsway Ltd.: Deep TMS Technology by Brainsway

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