Promising results in deep brain stimulation for patients with treatment-resistant depression

New data from a study of patients with treatment-resistant depression who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subcallosal cingulate region (SCG or Cg25) of the brain shows that this intervention is generally safe and provides significant improvement in patients as early as one month after treatment. The patients also experienced continued and sustained improvement over time. The data are reported in the online issue of Biological Psychiatry by scientists from the University of Toronto and Emory University School of Medicine. The study began at the University of Toronto in 2002, led by Helen S. Mayberg, MD, and collaborators Andres Lozano, MD, PhD, neurosurgeon, and psychiatrist Sidney Kennedy, MD. Mayberg is now a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neurology at... [read full story]