For the first time, a trial in a small group of patients shows that a new type of treatment for epilepsy and depression that uses an external, wearable electrical brain stimulator could significantly reduce severity of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Share on Pinterest A weak electric current passes through the eTNS forehead patch and stimulates cranial nerves, causing them to send signals to parts of the brain that control mood, behavior and thinking.

Image credit: Reed Hutchinson/UCLA The treatment – called external trigeminal nerve stimulation (eTNS) – uses a 9-volt battery to power a patch that is stuck on the forehead. While the patient is asleep, a weak electric current passes through the patch and stimulates cranial nerves that run through the forehead, causing them to send signals to parts of the brain that control mood, behavior and thinking. The parts of the brain affected include the amygdala, media prefrontal cortex and the autonomic nervous system – all of which are known to show abnormal activity in people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Results of the new trial – led by the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) – have been presented at three academic conferences and are published in the journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. The paper describes how the eTNS treatment brought considerable relief to 12 patients – survivors of car accidents, rape, domestic abuse and other traumatic events – who were suffering with chronic PTSD and severe depression. The traumas – which, on average, had occurred about 30 years before the trial – had left the patients unable to sleep, prone to nightmares, irritable and hypervigilant, as well as anxious and depressed.

‘For the first time in years I slept through the night’ Senior author Andrew Leuchter, UCLA professor of psychiatry, says eTNS could be a breakthrough for PTSD patients who are not helped by current treatments. He says that while most do get some benefit, the majority still have symptoms that persist for years. Fast facts about PTSD Even though over 50% of people experience at least one trauma in their lives, a much smaller proportion develop PTSD

About 8 million Americans are living with PTSD

Women are more likely to develop PTSD than men. Learn more about PTSD He describes the treatment as “extraordinarily powerful” and remarks: “We’re talking about patients for whom illness had almost become a way of life. Yet they were coming in and saying: ‘For the first time in years I slept through the night,’ or ‘My nightmares are gone.'” Prof. Leuchter, who is also a staff psychiatrist at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System – part of the US Department of Veterans Affairs – and colleagues conducted the trial primarily with civilian volunteers. They plan to recruit military veterans for the next phase of the research, which will involve a larger trial. Military veterans are at greater risk for PTSD than civilians. An estimated 17% of active military personnel experience symptoms, and around 30% of veterans returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan have had symptoms, note the authors. PTSD can interfere with ability to lead a normal life and raises risk of suicide. Patients experience difficulties working with others, having families and maintaining relationships. To avoid situations that could trigger flashbacks, many lead lives of isolation, with little social life or travel.