Subject: (Mash) (Stone) Mag fields & Psychiatry (fwd)
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 114804 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru <rbeavers@llion.org>
--------------------------------------------------
......To say the least -- guru is not terribly qualified to get into
this discussion.... But I do see below a reference (and mention) of
the magnets affecting "hormone levels".... That is interesting to me
in light of Dr. Liburdy (et al) work on the impact of EMF upon hormone
levels and behavior..... There is an item about Liburdy's work on my
web-page......
Thanks, for this, Eric!!...... Another message on same subject
follows....
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 99 8:25:48 MDT
From: "Eric J. Mash"
To: "Roy L. Beavers"
Subject: Re: (Stone) Mag fields & Psychiatry (fwd)
I believe the work you are referring to is being carried out on
transcranial magnetic stimulation by Dr. Mark George and colleagues. Here
is a New York Times article and some references on TMS.
Eric
The following is quoted from the New York Times,
Tuesday, May 21, 1996, p. B5:
Pulsing Magnets Offer New Method of Mapping Brain
The technique causes thumbs to twitch and emotions to surge.
By Sandra Blakeslee
A psychiatrist presses a small, hand-held device over a patient's
skull. There is a clicking sound and the patient feels what has been
described as a "clawlike" sensation or skin becoming "drawn up." Usually
it is not uncomfortable.
But bizarre experiences may follow. If the device--a powerful,
fluctuating magnet--is placed on a spot over a person's left ear,
experimenters say, his right thumb will begin to waggle. Move the magnet
back an inch and he gets a vivid sensation of the thumb moving, but his
eyes tell him that it remains still. When the magnet is placed at the back of
his head, say on the left side, he will perceive a huge blind spot in his right
eye.
Researchers say the device also produces mood changes--several hours
of sadness, or happiness, depending on whether it is placed over the right
or left eyebrow. In other experiments, researchers say the magnet has
temporarily relieved depression, reduced the jagged movements in people
who temporarily relieved depression, reduced the jagged movements in
people who have Parkinson's disease and eradicated phantom limb pain in
amputees.
Although it may sound like something advertised on late night
television, the technique, called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or
T.M.S., is being taken seriously by a small group of neurologists and
psychiatrists around the world who are using it as a research tool.
All the results are preliminary, and so far the technique has
been used only on a very small number of patients with brain disorders,
but it shows early promise in two areas.
First, it can help map the normal brain. With a single pulse of the
magnet, the magnetic stimulation produces functional brain "lesions," small
regions of tissue that are temporarily paralyzed. Scientists can use these
so-called lesions to locate many behaviors, feelings, sensations and mood
centers. Second, the technique may also someday help treat certain brain
disorders. Researchers using the technique say that with repeated pulses of
energy, the magnet literally jump starts sluggish regions of the brain, much
the way electro-shock therapy does, restoring normal function for hours to
weeks.
Researchers stress, however, that T.M.S. is highly experimental and if
used incorrectly can induce brain seizures in healthy people. The technique
exploits the natural interplay between magnetism and electricity, said Dr.
Mark George, an expert on brain imaging at the Medical University of
South Carolina in Charleston. For example, Dr. George said, if a steady
electric current is run through a coil, it will generate a magnetic
field, which can be very powerful. Such electromagnets are used to pick
up entire automobiles in scrap-metal yards. When the elctric current is
turned off, the car falls off the magnet.
Similarly, if a coil of wire is moved through a magnetic field, it will
generate a flow of electricity, Dr. George said. Such magnetos are used to
generate currents for the ignition of internal combustion engines.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation exploits the fact that neurons are
essentially tiny electrical devices. When a nerve cell is activated, it
passes a flow of electrons down its length. Upon reaching the nerve end,
the electrons induce the release of chemicals that pass to neighboring nerve
cells. Thus stimulated, those cells fire an electric current and the process
continues, carrying coded messages throughout the brain....
[End of quotation]
George MS. Wassermann EM. Kimbrell TA. Little JT. Williams WE.
Danielson AL. Greenberg BD. Hallett M. Post RM. Biological
Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Mood improvement following daily left prefrontal repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation in patients with depression: a placebo-controlled
crossover trial. American Journal of Psychiatry. 154(12):1752-6, 1997
Dec.
OBJECTIVE: Preliminary studies have indicated that daily left prefrontal
repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation might have antidepressant
activity. The authors sought to confirm this finding by using a double-blind
crossover design. METHOD: Twelve depressed adults received in random
order 2 weeks of active treatment (repetitive transcranial magnetic
stimulation, 20 Hz at 80% motor threshold) and 2 weeks of sham treatment.
RESULTS: Changes from the relevant phase baseline in scores on the 21-
item Hamilton depression scale showed that repetitive transcranial magnetic
stimulation significantly improved mood over sham treatment. During the
active-treatment phase, Hamilton depression scale scores decreased 5
points, while during sham treatment the scores increased or worsened by 3
points. No adverse effects were noted. CONCLUSIONS: These
placebo-controlled results suggest that daily left prefrontal repetitive
transcranial magnetic stimulation has antidepressant activity when
administered at these parameters. Further controlled studies are indicated to
explore optimal stimulation characteristics and location, potential clinical
applications, and possible mechanisms of action.
George MS. Wassermann EM. Williams WA. Steppel J. Pascual-Leone
A. Basser P. Hallett M. Post RM. Radiology Department, Medical
University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.
Changes in mood and hormone levels after rapid-rate transcranial magnetic
stimulation (rTMS) of the prefrontal cortex. Journal of Neuropsychiatry &
Clinical Neurosciences. 8(2):172-80, 1996
Rapid-rate transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) was administered to 10
healthy volunteers on different days over the right or left prefrontal cortex,
midfrontal cortex, occipital cortex, or cerebellum. Mood (self-rated),
reaction time, and hormone levels were serially measured. Consistent with a
previous study, comparison of hemispheres revealed significant
associations with decreased happiness after left prefrontal TMS and
decreased sadness after right prefrontal TMS. Stimulation of all three
prefrontal regions, but not the occipital or cerebellar regions, was associated
with increases in serum thyroid-stimulating hormone. There was no effect
on serum prolactin. rTMS applied to prefrontal cortex is safe and well
tolerated and produces regionally and laterally specific changes in mood and
neuroendocrine measures in healthy adults. rTMS is a promising tool for
investigating prefrontal cortex functions.
Greenberg BD. George MS. Martin JD. Benjamin J. Schlaepfer TE.
Altemus M. Wassermann EM. Post RM. Murphy DL.
bdg@helix.nih.gov
Effect of prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in obsessive-
compulsive disorder: a preliminary study. American Journal of Psychiatry.
154(6):867-9, 1997 Jun.
Pridmore S. Fernandes Filho JA. Nahas Z. Liberatos C. George MS.
Motor threshold in transcranial magnetic stimulation: a comparison of a
neurophysiological method and a visualization of movement method.
Journal of ECT. 14(1):25-7, 1998 Mar.
Bohning DE. Shastri A. Nahas Z. Lorberbaum JP. Andersen SW.
Department of Radiology, Medical University of South Carolina,
Echoplanar BOLD fMRI of brain activation induced by concurrent
Investigative Radiology. 33(6):336-40, 1998 Jun.
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 22:10:26 -0700
> From: "Harrison A. G. Stone"
> To: rbeavers@llion.org
> Subject: Mag fields & Psychiatry
>
> Roy, I'm sending this in the hopes it may prove to be a clue which could
> lead to some possibly very damaging information with respect to the
> claims of "big business" that there are no non-thermal effects.
> During a conversation with a young post-doc fellow in Psychiatry in the
> past couple of days, (he is moving away from the state), I learned that
> there is experimental treatment of idiopathic endogenous depression
> being tried, using electromagnetic fields. Electromagnets are
> positioned over various areas of the skull, and they are energized with
> various pulsed and/or steady currents in an attempt to provide
> symptomatic relief of "clinical depression" without the use of
> pharmaceutical agents. He seemed to think it was potentially
> successful, or at least "promising", but it is "just at the journal
> stage". If anyone has access to a well ewuipped library having the
> research journals in this field, and can identify any of this work, I
> think it would be valuable information for all of us in this group. _If_
> researchers are able to use fields as a therepeutic tool - even
> experimentally - and they are not using "thermal" effects - this is a
> valuable piece of information in the fight against further
> intensification of EM Pollution. I couldn/t get more details out of this
> person - when I tried to question more closeley, he seemed to "dry up '
> as though maybe he had said too much. Anyone "out there" have any info
> on this aspect? I would personally like to know the details, and maybe
> some of the others would also. Harrison A. G. Stone ("Stoney")
> Stone@dvol.com
>
>
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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html