Magnet Approved to Treat Depression .. ??

[mooeypoo]

uh.. okay.. I'd love to see the actual research that led to this, but I was wondering what you guys thought on this, based on the many many failed experiments thus far..

 

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/10/21/magnet-depression.html

 

did they prove it right? Anyone has any more info on this? The actual research made, or the results?

 

~moo

[iNow]

I'm thinking placebo effect was not separated...

[YT2095]

it does actually work, in fact some of the effects the device can have are quite comical as well, however it was only temporary, so maybe they`ve changed it somewhat?

[mooeypoo]

I'm thinking placebo effect was not separated...

 

Well, they seem to claim they have.. I just can't find anything about it online :\ I want to see exactly HOW they did this experiment.

[Gilded]

I love the smell of fried neurons in the morning! Inducing desired currents in neural pathways is certainly doable but I'm a bit skeptical about it helping depression without having some sort of awkward side effects.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

I've heard of this technology before. It can stimulate or even shut off parts of the brain remotely with no side effects. They use it in studies to see if people can talk when it temporarily shuts down their speech center, and other stuff.

 

Sounds like it could work. I'd wait for the NIH to decide.

[iNow]

Cap'n - Are you referring to transcranial magnetic stimulation, or something like Squid technology (superconducting quantum interface device)?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcranial_magnetic_stimulation

http://www.neurevolution.net/

 

 

If they accounted for placebo, then there is a chance that they are influencing the chemoelectric currents in the nervous system somehow...

 

 

EDIT: I should have looked at the article sooner. This almost certainly works, but it's tough to be precise. It's almost the exact same thing as elecroconvulsive therapy which was used heavily in the 1950s and 60s to treat psychiatric issues. Remember, Electro/Magnetism... they're just going about the shock therapy another way. I wonder how precisely they can control the regions being treated... as it often causes secondary issues when shocking relatively large regions of the brain.

 

It's just shock therapy in a modern way.