“In three-quarters of the participants with depression, however, the typical flow of activity was reversed: The anterior cingulate cortex sent signals to the anterior insula. The more severe the depression, the higher the proportion of signals that traveled the wrong way.”
Stanford’s accelerated magnetic stimulation flipped the reversed signal back within a week and the depression lifted with it. The headline rests on 33 patients, 23 treated and 10 on sham. The researchers say themselves that they need a larger group. A biomarker from a sample that small is a hypothesis wearing a lab coat.