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People with depression reported a significant improvement in their mood after the scientists had done stimulation treatment on another part of the brain.
Scientists at the University of California at San Francisco focused their treatment on the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), located on the lower surface of the brain above the eyes, on patients suffering from moderate to severe depression.
"OFC has been described as the least understood brain region, but it is richly connected to various brain structures related to mood, depression and decision making, which makes it very well placed to coordinate the activity between emotion and cognition, "said Dr. Eddie Chang, neurosurgeon and senior author of the study, published in the journal Current Biology.
Light electrical power was administered for three minutes to 25 patients with epilepsy who had experienced minimal to severe symptoms of depression.
"Patients have said things like" wow, I feel better, "" I feel less anxious, "" I feel calm, cool and collected, "said researcher Kristin Sellers.
"And anecdotally, you can see improvements in the body language of patients. They smiled, they straightened up, they started talking faster and naturally. "
However, scientists have warned that research on larger groups will need to be conducted to understand if OFC's stimulation results in a lasting improvement in mood.
"The more we understand depression at this level of brain circuitry, the more options we can have to offer patients effective treatments with a low risk of side effects," said Heather Dawes, university coordinator for UCSF, who oversaw the research.
"Maybe by understanding how badly these emotional circuits go, we can even one day help the brain to" unlearn "depression."
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