Individualized Connectivity-Based Targeting With Accelerated TMS Effective for Depression

FRIDAY, June 26, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Individualized connectivity-based targeting with accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (aTMS) enhances the antidepressant effects in treatment-resistant depression, according to a study published online June 24 in JAMA Psychiatry.Joseph J. Taylor, M.D., Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues estimated the effect size of connectivity- versus scalp-based targeting of aTMS for treatment-resistant depression in a trial involving 40 patients aged 22 to 80 years with a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder with moderate-to-severe depression per Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score and moderate-to-severe treatment resistance. All participants underwent a 41-minute multiecho resting-state functional connectivity scan prior to aTMS; half received treatment guided by these data with a connectivity-based target defined as the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex region with the greatest correlation to a published and publicly available convergent depression circuit. The Beam F3 method was used to identify the scalp-based target.The researchers found that the median reduction in MADRS score was 24 and 18 points with connectivity- and scalp-based targeting, respectively. The effect size was 0.8 for connectivity-based targeting, with a number needed to scan of five. Individualized targets were reproducible within an individual and differed between individuals."Our recent clinical trials provide prospective evidence that there may be clinical advantages to using functional imaging to guide aTMS treatment," Taylor said in a statement. "These findings are important as aTMS becomes more widely available and decisions are made about how to scale this intervention for patients with depression and other psychiatric illnesses."Several authors disclosed ties to the biomedical industry; several authors are coinventors on a provisional patent related to methods described in this study.Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required).Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Individualized Connectivity-Based Targeting With Accelerated TMS Effective for Depression

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