Neurological and Mental Health

7 Therapeutic Tools that Can Stimulate the Brain to Improve Mental Health and Cognitive Function

When the brain is stimulated physically, the old neural patterns might be broken, and new ones can be created to boost mental health and cognition.

What if drugs and traditional cognitive therapies do not respond to your neurological or mental health conditions? There is still hope from neurostimulation, which I explain in this article. These options can be invaluable for some people whose conditions cannot be treated with medication and other interventions.

Brain stimulation has greatly interested me since I started my cognitive science studies in the mid-1980s. Non-invasive techniques attracted my attention as they are used safely as mental health therapies and for cognitive performance boosting, increasing the quality of life.

I reviewed neurostimulation tools and methods, observing their use in biohacking communities and by healthcare professionals in their clinics. I documented my findings from observations and shared them in various forums and blog posts.

My recent story attracted the attention of some subscribers who wanted to explore similar tools and therapies for mental health. The title of this story is Judy Solved Her Clinical Depression with a Tech Device Much Better than Medication.

With this inspiration from readers, I will summarize seven therapeutic tools that can stimulate the brain for better neurological and mental health and improve cognitive performance.

The brain is a biological, chemical, and electrical organ. Stimulating the brain using safe tools is possible and can bring numerous health benefits. As the brain is a delicate and critical organ, this needs to be done by highly qualified professionals with utmost care.

Neurostimulation is a comprehensive and complex topic. Therefore, my goal is to simplify the use of the methods and create awareness so that you can discuss viable options with your qualified healthcare professionals when needed.

Without going into technical and scientific details, I introduce seven practices and therapeutic approaches to stimulate the brain based on my reviews and experience. First, I’d like to introduce the concept of neurostimulation briefly so that each tool and relevant process makes sense to you.

What is neurostimulation, and why does it matter?

Neurostimulation is a medical treatment method to stimulate the nervous system with electrical or magnetic impulses to treat mental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Some treatment methods can be invasive, and most are non-invasive.

Medical professionals use neurostimulation to treat various conditions, such as depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, seizures, chronic pain, and movement disorders affecting millions of people.

These conditions might require different tools, meaning some tools might work for specific conditions better. Qualified healthcare professionals use neurostimulation by implanting devices under the skin or on the scalp to change electrical activity in neurons and neurocircuits.

Even though most patients tolerate neurostimulation well, it might cause side effects for some people. The commonly mentioned side effects in the literature are headache, dizziness, insomnia, and irritation at the site of the implanted device. However, they are believed to have fewer side effects than drugs.

From my reviews, neurostimulation services are available in many countries. For example, it is common in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, and Japan, as some of my friends in these countries used them successfully.

In these countries, practitioners usually use neurostimulation after they try other options, such as medication, hypnotherapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy, that might be ineffective for some patients.

Healthcare practitioners perform various tests and carefully check the medical history of patients. So a thorough assessment is made before making a decision to go or not go for neurostimulation.

So, in general, neurostimulation is performed after other treatment options have been tried and have been ineffective or when the patient’s condition is severe and requires more intensive treatment.

You can learn more about brain stimulation techniques and approaches, including side effects, from this comprehensive document published by the National Instituted of Health (NIH).

Here’s a summary of seven neurostimulation tools and processes highlighting the key points.

1 — EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

I start with EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) as it is one of the most non-intrusive techniques and has been successfully used in many countries.

EMDR mainly treats traumas, post-traumatic stress disorder, and distressing emotional experiences coded in long-term memories. It is relatively new, but neuroscience and mental health literature specifically focus on this therapy for trauma patients.

The critical intervention is to ask the patient to recall a traumatic event while they simultaneously engage in bilateral stimulation, like side-to-side eye movements or tapping on the body.

When performing this therapy, the patients remember the traumatic events and the physical stimulation can reduce the electrical activity in brain circuits, giving temporary relief to the patient.

In simple terms, when the treatment is performed safely multiple times, trauma patients can process the disturbing memories better and get a chance to neutralize them. Several friends used it, and they benefited from this therapy.

This review paper in Nervous and Mental Disease informs that “EMDR may be more suitable than CBT for PTSD patients with prominent intrusion or arousal symptoms.”

2 — R-TMS — Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (R-TMS) is another non-invasive neurostimulation technique. R-TMS is commonly used to treat anxiety and depression. This therapy allows changes in the activity of neurons.

Even though it is considered safe with minimal side effects, it might not be for everyone. Therefore, it is currently used if other treatment methods fail.

Credible sources like Harvard Medical School inform us about one-third of individuals using TMS experience complete remission. This means that their symptoms go away completely.

Clinical Neurophysiology published a comprehensive review paper titled “Evidence-based guidelines on the therapeutic use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation” in 2020.

As I documented my perspectives in a story, I will not go into details here. Interested readers might check this article titled Judy Solved Her Clinical Depression with a Tech Device Much Better than Medication.

3 — ECT — Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a neurostimulation technique using electric currents to induce seizures. The terms for these currents are brief and ultra-brief pulses based on the needs of patients.

Before ECT therapy, patients are sedated with general anesthesia and muscle relaxants to prevent movement during the procedure.

This therapy is usually used for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and clinical depression. ECT therapy can reset the brain’s neural circuits and improve symptoms of these mental health disorders.

ECT is also believed safe and effective, but like other neurostimulation therapies, it is used as a last resort when previous treatments were ineffective.

Interested readers learn more about ECT from a paper authored by four medical doctors titled “Electroconvulsive Therapy in Depression: Current Practice and Future Direction,” published in the Psychiatric Clinics of North America.

4 — MST — Magnetic Seizure Therapy

Magnetic Seizure Therapy (MST) is another neurostimulation tool using magnetic. It is similar to ECT as a function. The difference is magnetic versus electric. MST is heavily researched. I came across over 10K medical reports on PubMed.

Like ECT, MST also is used for patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and clinical depression and seems to produce better results than ECT. Based on a systemic review, so far, no study has focused on comparing MST to ECT on bipolar depression specifically.

This systemic review paper informs that “the studies found reported significant antidepressant effects, with remission rates ranging from 30% to 40%. No significant cognitive side effects related to MST were found, with a better cognitive profile when compared to ECT.”

MST is believed safe and effective, but like other neurostimulation therapies, it is used as a last resort when previous treatments were ineffective.

5 — VNS — Vagus Nerve Stimulation

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is neurostimulation using electrical stimulation to the vagus nerve carrying messages from the heart, lungs, and intestines. Practitioners have used this nerve to treat various mental health conditions for a long time.

The vagus nerve is an extensive nerve spanning from the abdomen to the brainstem, including brain regions controlling sleep and mood. This nerve plays a critical role in the body-mind connection.

In 2005, FDA approved VNS for use in treating treatment-resistant depression in specific patients having severe depression for over two years and having a recurrent condition.

Practitioners implant the VNS device (pulse generator) under the skin and attach wires to the vagus nerve to stimulate it with an electrical current. It is generally considered safe with minimal side effects. It might take several months before patients see some improvement in VNS therapy.

6 — T-DCS — Transcranial direct current stimulation

Transcranial direct current stimulation (T-DCS) is a neurostimulation method using feeble electrical currents to stimulate specific brain regions.

T-DCS is another non-invasive therapy usually considered safe. These weak electrical currents can alter the activity of neurons in the brain, giving relief to patients.

T-DCS is effective for cognitive disorders, chronic pain, and mild depression. Like previous methods, T-DCS is also used when previous treatments fail.

7 — DBS — Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurostimulation transmitting electrical signals to specific brain regions. Practitioners implant electrodes in necessary regions for this therapy.

A head frame is attached to the skull and remains in place during the procedure to keep the head in the proper position. During that time, operators check MRI or CT scans to identify the target region in the brain.

DBS as a stimulator is usually used to treat Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, essential tremor, and other movement disorders. It is believed to be effective for neuropsychiatric conditions.

DBS is considered safe and classified as a minimally invasive surgical procedure by NIH. It can improve conditions noticeably in patients with neuropsychiatric disorders; however, it is used only when other treatments are ineffective.

So far, only two published controlled trials have been conducted for potential FDA approval for treatment-resistant depression, but they were negative.

Therefore this paper by Dr. Darin Dougherty proposes “future directions, including the potential use of alternate clinical trial designs, using tractography for more refined deep brain stimulation electrode targeting, and closed-loop deep brain stimulation approaches.”

Conclusions and Takeaways

Humans have been using magnetism to treat diseases for over a thousand years. In the 1860s, Michael Faraday explored magnetic fields and popularized them in science communities.

As documented in this NIH Book, there is a significant focus on using magnets for the brain and nervous system for healing and better cognitive performance.

Then electric currents gained momentum and explained how magnets work. Magnets create electric fields and induce electrons to flow between selected points in devices.

Modern technology turned these concepts into tools for medical practitioners to treat neurological and mental disorders.

So advancements in these technologies enabled the concept of neurostimulation for therapeutic use that I introduced in this article.

Even though some of these methods are still intrusive to some extent, most of them can be performed with minimal impact and side effects, as documented in the literature.

I believe these devices are promising and can benefit those with neuropsychiatric disorders.

If you, your loved ones, or your friends experience depression, anxiety, PTSD, or neurological disorders, and medication does not work, you might chat with your healthcare professionals about these options.

It can be helpful to have heart-to-heart talks with our therapists. For example, a psychiatrist might make an assessment of the situation and consider relevant therapies listed in this post if you are eligible. You might also consider them for cognitive performance.

The key takeaway of this story is living with mental health disorders can lower the quality of life and even shorten lifespan. Therefore, informing yourself and taking personal responsibility for the timely resolution of your ailments, and seeking help from professionals can be invaluable.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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