Magnetic Stimulation: the use of a magnetic field to stimulate the neurons in the brain

Transcranial: passing through the cranium (or skull)

The brain contains around 86 billion neurons or nerve cells (the brain of a cat contains around one billion; that of an elephant contains around 23 billion). Neurons are responsible for sending and receiving information - information about everything from our surroundings to our emotions. Information is passed between neurons by an electrical impulse. If information gets stuck (like a train on a track some distance from a station) we wouldn’t know when it’s safe to cross a road. Or remember someone’s birthday. Or know how it feels to fall in love.

Problems with mental health occur when neurons in the brain stop communicating as they once did. Most people with depression can recognise this if they consider how depression stops them from seeing the ‘good stuff’ (missing out on any information that’s positive or comforting) or feel numb or empty – almost as if their brain has shut down.

Brain neurons are naturally electrically charged and so can conduct electricity. A brief magnetic field applied to a material that conducts electricity will generate an electrical current.  So, applying a magnetic field by TMS causes electrical current to flow through the neurons – altering their activity and improving the brain’s communication of information. Studies have shown that the left side of the pre-frontal cortex, a region of the brain, was underactive in depression, and TMS applied to the left pre-frontal cortex was related to improvements in depression symptoms.

“I had rTMS treatment in 2017 at 33 after being depressed since I was a teenager. It was hard to believe anything could treat my depression after years of talk therapy and fourteen different combinations of medication had made no difference. I had almost given up hope I could ever live a happy life, it felt like there were no more treatment options left. Two years on and I still feel the benefits of the rTMS treatment. I’m the same person with the same insecurities and fears as before but I have the strength to be able to deal with most of what comes at me now. Crucially, I can finally feel enjoyment from things again which had become impossible. I've lost a lot of my younger years but there is time to rebuild and I now feel I have the chance to be the person I was always meant to be”. Mark, 35

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