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Home </> | News <index.html> | Magnetic Fields of MRI Scans May Hold
Treatment for Depression

Magnetic Fields of MRI Scans May Hold Treatment for Depression
Updated January 20, 2004

Neuroimaging Center <../departments/neuroimaging/index.html>
The Neuroimaging Center at McLean

A chance observation by an alert research assistant in the Neuroimaging
Center (NIC) <../departments/neuroimaging/index.html> may eventually
lead to a new treatment for depression. She noticed that patients who
were scanned with a particular type of magnetic field gradients
frequently reported that they felt in a better mood after emerging from
the scanner. This kind of MRI scan is called EP-MRSI, or Echo-Planar
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging.

After realizing they may be observing a real effect, researchers in the
NIC developed a pilot study to further examine this unexpected
phenomenon. The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry,
reported mood improvement in 23 of the 30 patients who received the
EP-MRSI scans. No improvement was reported in those subjects who
received control scans. The researchers hypothesize that the magnetic
gradients used may match the natural firing rhythms of brain cells. A
large scale study is planned based on these findings.

McLean has a patent on this technology (one of the inventors listed is
the research assistant who first noticed the phenomenon), and is
presently constructing a prototype 'tabletop' device that delivers the
magnetic gradients without the need of an expensive MR scan. The story
was widely reported by local and national media including the Boston
Globe
<http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/01/early_mclean_tests_show_brain_scan_eases_depression/>,
the Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, Science Daily
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/01/040101091614.htm> and
HealthCentral.com
<http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=1503385>.

The Neuroimaging Center has posted more information about this study on
McLean's hospital website here
<http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/mri_bipolar/index.htm>.

McLean Hospital <http://www.mclean.harvard.edu/>Harvard Medical School
<http://www.hms.harvard.edu>Massachussets General Hospital
<http://www.mgh.harvard.edu>Partners HealthCare
<http://www.partners.org/> McLean is the largest psychiatric teaching
facility of Harvard Medical School <http://www.hms.harvard.edu/>, an
affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital
<http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/> and a member of the Partners HealthCare
System <http://www.partners.org>.
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