Novel brain stimulation protocol for depression in 5 days

• Stanford Neuromodulation Therapy (SNT; formerly SAINT) delivers accelerated, high-dose intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS) with fcMRI-guided targeting of left DLPFC–sgACC anticorrelation over five consecutive days.¹²
• Open-label SAINT (n=21 completers) reported ~90% remission (MADRS <11); a subsequent double-blind RCT found 52.5% mean MADRS reduction at 4 weeks for active SNT vs 11.1% for sham.¹²
• Protocol details: 50 iTBS sessions (1,800 pulses each; 10/day; 50-minute intersession interval) at 90% resting motor threshold adjusted for cortical depth.²
• Decision-relevant for rapid-course noninvasive neuromodulation in treatment-resistant depression; durability and head-to-head comparisons remain open questions.¹

Footnotes

1. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2021.20101429 ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.19070720 ↩ ↩² ↩³