![]() He explains that TMS revives neurons which have become underactive as a result of mental illness. He completed a fellowship at the University of Toronto, where he initially used TMS as a tool for “investigating aspects of brain function and dysfunction in people with schizophrenia.” Gradually, his studies regarding schizophrenia expanded into the possibility of using TMS as a broader therapeutic tool for treating a range of mental illnesses.įitzgerald has fulfilled his ambition by establishing a broader TMS research program at home in Australia. ![]() Paul Fitzgerald is the Director of School of Medicine and Psychology. Much like using jump starters on a car battery (but more gently!), TMS tries to jump-start brains. Depression slows the circuitry’s functioning. TMS sends a mild, stimulating current to fire up activity in the slow parts of the circuit. It’s helpful to imagine these nerves as an electrical circuit, wired throughout the brain and body. The communications delay produces some of the common effects of depression: brain fog, fluctuating mood, insomnia and that characteristic heaviness that just doesn’t seem to lift. ![]() This shrinkage reduces the size of nerve cells in the affected parts of the brain, and constricts their connections to other areas of the brain-ultimately affecting the brain’s ability to relay messages or instructions effectively throughout the body. For that group of people, depression can be a discouraging and open-ended condition.ĭepression is the result of shrinkage in two areas of the brain, the hippocampus (the centre of memory) and the cerebral cortex (the base of thought). It offers a non-pharmaceutical alternative for people who may have tried medication and therapy, but still don’t feel like themselves. It is used to treat people who have severe or protracted depression. TMS is an emerging, non-invasive therapy that responds to the biology of depression by stimulating underactive neurons in the brain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) sounds like something from a horror film or a cousin of electroshock therapy.
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