What is TMS?

What is TMS?

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive procedure to treat depression that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. 

Theta Burst Stimulation (TBS) is a shorter version of TMS and is the type of brain stimulation we are using in the study. The TMS device, called the MagPro X100 TMS system, is approved by the FDA for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adult patients who have not received satisfactory improvement from prior antidepressant medications. Thus, the device is acceptable for studying how people with depression respond to treatments.

We expect TBS to have potential value in improving depression, anhedonia, and mood in young people. TBS is a technique to briefly change function in a region of your brain using a magnetic field that passes through the scalp and the skull safely. We will use the MRI brain images to guide the TBS so that the stimulation is in the right place for our study.