How does tms work

As these magnetic fields move into the brain, they produce very small electrical currents. These electrical currents activate cells within the brain which are thought to release neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine.

Since depression is thought to be the result of an imbalance of these chemicals in the brain, TMS can restore that balance and, thus, relieve depression. TMS Therapy is: Non-invasive, meaning that it does not involve surgery. It does not require any anesthesia or sedation, as the patient remains awake and alert during the treatment. The objective of TMS therapy is to stimulate or activate brain cells.

Patients remain awake and alert during a TMS therapy procedure. In an open-label trial, approximately one out of two patients treated with the TMS therapy device used at Butler Hospital experienced significant improvement in depression symptoms. TMS treated patients who also experienced significant improvement in anxiety, appetite changes, aches and pains, and lack of energy associated with depression. Approximately one out of three patients treated with TMS therapy experienced complete symptom relief at the end of six weeks.

Ways to Give Careers Volunteer. In The News Media Relations. Site Search. Written By: Butler Hospital on April 22, TMS is non-invasive and does not involve surgery or insertion of intravenous lines or anything else put into your body.

A slow pulse is used to reduce the activity in the underlying brain and a fast pulse used to activate the underlying brain. Both techniques can be useful depending on which part of the brain they are applied to. In contrast to other forms of brain stimulation such as ECT electro convulsive therapy and DBS deep brain stimulation.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation only effects a very specific and small part of the brain, does not require surgery, does not require hospitalisation and is very well tolerated.

For a closer comparison on other depression treatment forms please click here. After setting up the patient and machine in the correct position, the treatment usually last about 40 minutes and after the treatment is finished the person can go about their everyday duties. Where TMS shines is that while a single positive thought can activate a particular pathway once, a single TMS session will activate that pathway thousands of times.

A typical course of TMS is around 36 sessions. During a full course of treatment, these therapeutic pathways are activated hundreds of thousands of times. Now imagine practicing a golf swing, or tennis serve, or a song on the piano hundreds of thousands of times. This is a lot like what the TMS process is.

And, the less of an expert it gets at feeling depressed. TMS is a non-invasive, simple outpatient procedure.