Improving depression treatments through translational research

Unfortunately, despite having fewer side effects than medication, TBS is not much more effective – it helps alleviate depression symptoms in roughly 40% of patients. “The hope is that we discover a more effective and more potent treatment for people with depression that not only treats depression but also reduces the risk of developing dementia that is linked to depression,” said Dr. Rajji. However, since the hippocampus lies deep in the brain, treatment in humans is done on the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain with very different structure and function. Together, the data generated from these mouse studies will provide critical information to the research team as they tackle the final phase of their project: testing their new TBS protocol on depressed patients. To learn more about Brain Canada funded research, please visit www.braincanada.ca