Zapping away the blues: a pacemaker-like device to treat depression takes a giant step forward

This paper presents the first implanted device that can treat a psychiatric illness. The implant, when used in combination with standard therapies, can alleviate the symptoms of chronic or recurrent depression in the 20 percent of patients who do not benefit from Prozac, Paxil and other drugs. About the size of a pocket watch, the nerve simulator looks and acts much like a cardiac pacemaker, and it is implanted in the same place, under the skin of the chest. The stimulator transmits a train of electrical pulses along the leads to the left vagus nerve in the neck. The nerve, in turn, conveys the signals to the brain, thereby reducing the symptoms of depression. More than 400 people with depression participated in the trials in the United States. After one year, one of six was free of depression, and 56 percent got some meaningful benefit. Of those who did respond, about 70 percent continued to benefit after years.