What is the transcranial magnetic stimulation with which they fight depression?

Doctors from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) badist students from this institution suffering from depression and alcohol-related disorders with an innovative and non-invasive method called transcranial magnetic stimulation, which complements psychological therapy and medication.

According to figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is one of the most common mental disorders and affects more than 300 million people worldwide.it is therefore necessary to try different methods to eliminate it.

This technique is applied to the Faculty of Medicine, through its Department of Psychiatry, stimulates the cerebral cortex, through a series of electric currents located in a coil generating an artificial magnetic field.

In this regard, José Javier Mendoza Velásquez, research coordinator in the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, emphasized that Mental illnesses are one of the leading causes of disability in the world.

He explained that transcranial magnetic stimulation This is an approved method since 2010, which has 30 years of research. 66% respond to conventional antidepressantsHowever, it is at this time that resistance imposes new therapeutic possibilities.

Mendoza Velasquez said that It is a technique that stimulates the cerebral cortex, through a series of electric currents located in a coil generating an artificial magnetic field.

Each of the areas of the cerebral cortex has certain functions, and by stimulating them with a strong magnetic field, its function is improved, but when it is performed with a minimal wave, this area of ​​the cortex is inhibited.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation, said Mendoza Velásquez, It is able to cross the skin, the skull and all the tissues that protect the central nervous system. And in contact with the cerebral cortex, the magnetic stimulus is converted into electrical energy. "That's the reason brain tissue reacts and generates action."

In fact no anesthesia or hospitalization is required. In addition, this treatment generates no other symptoms and is considered a form of exploration of many functions of the central nervous system.

This method has been used to treat other conditions such as the attention deficit, alcohol use disorders or other drugs such as cocaine, blood disorders, and other disorders. personality, autism and eating disorders.. The goal is to regulate this type of impulsive behavior that can lead to a pathology.

Currently, the Department of Psychiatry of UNAM has two protocols attention of transcranial magnetic stimulation. In the first case, patients with drug-resistant depression are treated, the second being for people with alcohol-related disorders.