Accelerated Brain Stimulation for Treating Depression

Full study title: Neuromodulation of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex for Depression using an Accelerated Treatment Protocol

What is the study about?

Accelerated deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dTMS) means giving multiple treatment sessions each day for one week, instead of just one session a day for 4 to 6 weeks like usual. This study wants to see how well an accelerated dTMS treatment schedule works for treating Major Depressive Disorder in older adults who did not get better with antidepressant medications. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive dTMS treatment or an inactive treatment (i.e., a placebo). This helps researchers determine if the dTMS really works. This study will also look at the effect of dTMS on memory and thinking skills. Participants will answer questions, take memory tests, and have brain scans before and after the treatment to see how their brains change.

Eligibility- Who can participate?

• Age: 60-85 years old
• Diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder
• Unresponsive or intolerant to antidepressant medication 
• No cardiac pacemaker or other metal implants in the body 
• No personal or family history of epilepsy

Time requirement

Total study duration is 6 weeks. 

Baseline/Screening

• 1-2 visits lasting 1-2 hours

Treatment 

• 5 visits in 1 week
• Each visit will be from 9am-5pm
• Each dTMS treatment will be spaced 1 hour apart 

Post-Treatment Assessments

• Post-treatment assessment following treatment period, 1-2 hours
• 1-month post-treatment follow-up assessment, 1-2 hours