Published by Sydney Morning Herald 19 April 2015 by Julia Medew
In a world first trial, Melbourne doctors have started beaming magnetic fields into the brains of depressed teenagers in the hope it will treat their illness and improve their cognitive function.
Dr Michael Gordon with a machine delivering magnetic therapy to a teenager's brain to try to treat depression. Photo: Eddie Jim
Head of Child Psychiatry at Monash Health, Michael Gordon, said his team was recruiting 40 adolescents with severe depression to see if 20 sessions of magnetic stimulation over four weeks would improve their mental health.
While the technique, known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, has been effective for about 35 per cent of adults whose depression does not respond to other treatments, it has only been tested on 19 adolescents across the globe.
The treatment involves placing a figure eight-shaped coil on the patient's scalp at the front of their head. Over about 25 minutes, it delivers magnetic pulses to the frontal lobe of the brain thought to control depression.
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Twitter: Sydney Morning Herald @smh Julie Medew @juliamedew Monash Health @MonashHealth
