Bipolar Today

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Scientific American published an interesting article yesterday about some of the surprising results that researchers have been finding during studies using MRIs on people with both major depressive disorder and bipolar depression. People who were getting MRIs seemed to feel better after the test. In fact, a recent study published in Brain Imaging and Behavior found statistically significant improvement among those with major depressive disorder in those who received a real MRI versus those who received a fake one. This compounds previous findings that MRIs help with bipolar depression, as published in this article in the American Journal of Psychiatry. There is still some skepticism about the results, partly because the actual mechanism by which an MRI would help with depression is poorly understood, but the latest study has raised some eyebrows and some optimism about a possible new avenue for treatment. The complete article can be found here.

Commentary

A few weeks ago, I covered a story about transcranial magnetic stimulation, a method of relieving depression that would work according to the same principles as an MRI. The theory behind the effect is that magnetic stimulation would work in a similar but less invasive manner as electroconvulsive therapy by generating an magnetic field in the brain. The evidence for magnetic therapy isn’t especially strong right now, but if it does work, it would provide new, non-medicinal options for the treatment of bipolar depression, which is notoriously hard to treat given the reactions many bipolar people have to anti-depressants.

On a lighter note, if it turns out MRIs do reduce depression, it could actually cause a kind of Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle for scanning depressive brains. If the test itself affects the results, it will be impossible to get perfect imaging of what depressed brains look like.

Related posts:

1. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Receives FDA Approval for Trial
2. Gordon Parker Discusses Depression and Diagnosis
3. Mike Wallace, Depression and Bipolar Advocate, Dies at Age 93
4. APA Task Force Finds Omega-3 Effective for Bipolar Depression
5. Treatment of Bipolar Depression With Antidepressants Unsupported by Evidence: BJP