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Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) announced the results of a 9 person functional MRI (fMRI) study examining the effects of VNS (Vagus Nerve Stimulation) Therapy for patients with severe depression which appears in the August 2007 issue of Neuropsychopharmacology:
So, the study is claiming that over time, the VNS is training the brain ("modulates") to operate in a more normalize fashion. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for a long time regarding the VNS and the reports of it's efficacy increasing over time - the reason it works (for some) is that it performs a similar function to EEG neurofeedback - training the brain (with steady, repetitive stimulations) to work within more normalized parameters. A good description of neurofeedback treatment for depression is given here:
Only, :soap: EEG neurofeedback is non-invasive (no surgery) and works by allowing the patient to learn how to modulate the brain themselves (without the requirement for a permanent, external device). It also doesn't have a single case of known adverse events in over 60 years of study and use.
When is the medical community going to wake up and start giving neurofeedback greater consideration? This was written in 2002:
EEG Neurofeedback for Treating Psychiatric Disorders
The results show that VNS Therapy modulates areas of the brain that control mood. ... A critical time for such effective modulation occurs approximately at 30 weeks of treatment. Such modulation could support VNS Therapy's unique mechanism of action as a long- term treatment for chronic or recurrent depression and directly corresponds with the timeframe in which patients typically experience a decrease in symptoms. Further analysis of the data demonstrates that modulation of the brain is a dynamic process that over time leads to indirectly related improved response with continued use.
So, the study is claiming that over time, the VNS is training the brain ("modulates") to operate in a more normalize fashion. This is something that has been in the back of my mind for a long time regarding the VNS and the reports of it's efficacy increasing over time - the reason it works (for some) is that it performs a similar function to EEG neurofeedback - training the brain (with steady, repetitive stimulations) to work within more normalized parameters. A good description of neurofeedback treatment for depression is given here:
Health Psychology and A.D.D. Institute said:The basic idea behind the treatment of these problems in general, and in the treatment of depression in particular, is that in each case there has been an alteration in the normal, rhythmic electrical activities of the brain. With depression, what is frequently seen is a tendency toward a slowing down of brain activity. The result is what we refer to as a state of "low arousal." The depressed person has low energy, poor attention, poor memory, a feeling of lethargy and a mood of pervasive sadness.
At our clinic, we begin by analyzing brain activity in order to look at how the EEG might show such a profile. Afterward, we design a program of self-training with Neurofeedback which allows one the opportunity to "normalize" brain activity. In the case of excessively slow activity , for example, a program will be designed which requires the individual to produce faster brain activity. Both research and clinical experience have shown the effect to be the production of a state of increased arousal. The process is something like going to a gymnasium to exercise one's muscles . When muscles are challenged, they get stronger. When the brain is challenged, it gets stronger also. In both cases, you take the benefits home with you. They are not left in the room where you exercised.
Only, :soap: EEG neurofeedback is non-invasive (no surgery) and works by allowing the patient to learn how to modulate the brain themselves (without the requirement for a permanent, external device). It also doesn't have a single case of known adverse events in over 60 years of study and use.
When is the medical community going to wake up and start giving neurofeedback greater consideration? This was written in 2002:
Psychiatric Times said:"Critics of EEG neurofeedback hold this treatment to more rigid standards than many of the drug treatments," David F. Velkoff, M.D., medical director of the Drake Institute of Behavioral Medicine in Los Angeles, who has treated over 1,000 patients with neurotherapy, told the press. "Yet unlike drugs, neurofeedback is benign." According to Frank H. Duffy, M.D., associate editor for Clinical Electroencephalography, any pharmaceutical drug that had as wide a range of effectiveness as neurofeedback would be universally accepted and widely used (Duffy, 2000).
EEG Neurofeedback for Treating Psychiatric Disorders