Mass General Brigham reports that a randomized trial found personalized functional MRI-guided TMS targeting may improve outcomes for treatment-resistant depression.
A trial of personalized targeting
Mass General Brigham reports that a randomized clinical trial suggests personalized functional MRI may help guide transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, targets for treatment-resistant depression. According to Mass General Brigham, the approach may improve outcomes compared with conventional scalp-based targeting.
Mass General Brigham says the study came from its Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychiatry. The source states that the trial was published in JAMA Psychiatry and compared personalized brain-imaging guidance with a conventional method of identifying TMS treatment targets from the scalp.
What the study examined
According to Mass General Brigham, personalized functional MRI was used to guide where TMS was directed. Functional MRI is named by the source as the imaging method used for personalized targeting in the trial.
Mass General Brigham describes the study as a randomized clinical trial involving treatment-resistant depression. The source says its findings suggest that imaging-guided targeting may improve outcomes over conventional scalp-based targeting. The extract does not describe the trial’s participant count, specific outcome measures, or the size of any difference between the approaches.
Accelerated treatment schedule
Mass General Brigham says the study used accelerated TMS. According to the source, accelerated TMS involved delivering multiple sessions per day in order to condense treatment into a single week.
The source presents this treatment schedule as part of the clinical trial. Mass General Brigham does not state in the extract whether the accelerated schedule itself was compared with another treatment schedule. It identifies the comparison in the trial as personalized functional MRI-guided targeting versus conventional scalp-based targeting.
TMS and depression
Mass General Brigham states that TMS has had FDA clearance for major depressive disorder in adults since 2008. The source’s report concerns treatment-resistant depression and a possible method for making TMS targeting more personalized through functional MRI.
The findings are described by Mass General Brigham as suggesting potential improvement, rather than establishing that personalized imaging-guided targeting will improve outcomes for every person receiving TMS. The source does not provide further information in the extract about availability of the approach.
What this means for Massachusetts patients
For Massachusetts residents looking for treatment locally, the directory lists 146 published clinics in Massachusetts. Mass General Brigham’s report highlights ongoing research into how TMS targets may be selected for treatment-resistant depression.
This is general information, not medical advice.
More Massachusetts reporting on treatment updates.
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