1Human Systems Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan

Abstract 

Depression is the most prevalent debilitating mental illness; it is characterized as a disorder of mood, cognitive function, and neurovegetative function. About one in ten individuals experience depression at some stage of their lives. Antidepressant drugs are used to reduce the symptoms but relapse occurs in~20% of patients.However, alternate therapies like brain stimulation techniques have shown promising results in this regard. This review covers the brain stimulation techniques electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, vagus nerve stimulation, and deep brain stimulation, which are used as alternatives to antidepressant drugs, and elucidates their research and clinical outcomes.

Keywords

Depression, Electroconvulsive therapy, Transcranial direct current stimulation, Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, Magnetic seizure therapy, Vagus nerve stimulation, Deep brain stimulation, Treatment-resistant depression

[SpringerLink]