Magnetic mood brightener.

Magnetic stimulation of the brain shows promise as a treatment for depression, a pilot study finds.

A team headed by Mark S. George, a psychiatrist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, administered transcranial magnetic stimulation for 10 days over a 2-week period to 12 adults suffering from major depression or manic depression. An electromagnet placed over the scalp delivered pulses to the front of the brain's left side, possibly halting neural communication in that area temporarily. The volunteers were assigned at random to receive either the active treatment or stimulation that did not reach the brain.

Only the transcranial procedure markedly lifted mood, George's group reports in the December 1997 American Journal of Psychiatry. If longer trials confirm this effect and illuminate how the technique works, it may provide an alternative to antidepressant drugs, the scientists say.