Struggling with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is something that millions of people deal with for years at a time. Unfortunately, this type of depression can be hard to manage because it doesn’t seem to respond well to medications or other forms of therapy.

One 44-year-old man who had TRD for over 30 years, however, has gone through an experimental procedure that is showing some very positive results.

The procedure involves brain stimulation that is minimally invasive and uses what is being called a ‘brainotype,’ which allows doctors to provide highly targeted stimulation. In a paper, which has been posted in preprint to PsyArXiv, the researchers wrote:

“[The patient’s] salience network was highly atypical. In [this patient], the salience network was expanded to cover 12.4 percent of the cortical surface area, a four-fold enlargement compared to healthy controls.”

Armed with the knowledge that there were clear issues in that area of the brain, the doctors could create their targeted stimulation treatment. The team was then able to surgically implant four separate electrodes into the brain, two in each hemisphere.

Once the patient had healed from the implantation surgery, they performed the stimulation, which was applied with the default mode network (DMN). Impressively, the patient had instant results. In a report, he broke down in tears, saying:

“It feels nice. So weird to feel. It is so emotional.”

The patient returned for additional treatments as scheduled, and within seven weeks, he reported that his suicidal ideation had gone away entirely. On standardized tests, the doctors found that his mood had improved by 59%, and he was able to maintain that improvement throughout the experiment (which lasted 30 months).

The first author of the paper, Ziad Nahas, talked with Gizmodo, saying:

“In psychiatry, we don’t have cures, but this is probably the closest we can get.”

Of course, this is just a single trial, so it is important not to get overly excited about the results. The procedure will need to be conducted on many more individuals before it can be determined if this is a valid treatment method for anyone struggling with TRD.

For many who are struggling, however, this is undoubtedly a source of great hope.

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