Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and University of California San Diego School of Medicine announced on Apr. 16 that magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is as effective as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in treating severe, treatment-resistant depression, but with significantly fewer cognitive side effects. The findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry following a large-scale international clinical trial.
The study is significant because ECT, while considered the gold-standard treatment for severe depression unresponsive to other therapies, often causes cognitive side effects such as memory loss. These risks have led many eligible patients to avoid the procedure.
The randomized, double-blind clinical trial ran from 2018 to 2024 and included nearly 300 participants across CAMH in Toronto, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and UC San Diego. Results showed that about half of the patients in both groups had a meaningful improvement in depressive symptoms. MST was found to preserve memory better than ECT.
"This is a major milestone for the field," said Dr. Daniel Blumberger, Senior Scientist at CAMH and co-lead of the study.
Up to one-third of people with major depressive disorder do not respond to standard treatments like medication or psychotherapy. Although ECT can be life-saving for these individuals, concerns about its impact on memory deter many from choosing it. MST uses magnetic stimulation to trigger therapeutic seizures but targets brain areas more precisely than ECT does.
Dr. Zafiris Daskalakis, Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and co-lead investigator said: "This study represents an important first step toward bringing MST into wider clinical use... If approved and implemented more broadly, it could transform how we deliver brain stimulation therapies and significantly improve the patient experience." Researchers say further work is needed before MST can be widely adopted but believe this research lays essential groundwork.
