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Electrical stimulation of a small area of the brain helps to improve the mood of depressed people, concludes a survey conducted by a group of experts from University of California, in San Francisco (USA) and published today by Current Biology magazine.
This small area of the brain is the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and can become "A new promising stimulation target for the treatment of mood disorders", according to Vikram Rao of the University of California.
A team led by Rao and Kristin Sellers studied 25 patients with epilepsy who placed electrodes in the brain to identify the source of their attacks.
A large number of these patients also suffered from depression and, with their consent, the researchers took advantage of these electrodes to send small electrical vibrations to areas of the brain involved in mood regulation.
They focused specifically on the electrical stimulation of OFC, one of the least understood brain regions.
"The stimulation produced a pattern of activity in areas of the brain connected to OFC that was similar to those seen when patients naturally exhibited a positive mood," he said. Rao pointed out.
The changes in brain activity observed by the researchers after the stimulation were very similar to those detected when people are in a good mood.
OFC "shares interconnections with several brain regions involved in the treatment of emotions," said Sellers, noting that this made it a very attractive target for therapeutic stimulation.
The team is currently investigating whether the OFC's stimulation produces a lasting improvement in mood over longer periods.
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