Edmund S. Higgins, MD.

TMS: Deeper is not Better

January 13, 2020

Edmund S. Higgins, MD. Dr. Higgins has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Two devices are available for transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Neurostar came first with the figure-8 coil, which is now off-patent, while Brainsway’s H-coil which claims to reach deeper into the cerebral cortex. See how they compare in the first head-to-head controlled trial, undertaken without industry support.

Anti-Inflammatories as Antidepressants?

October 3, 2019

Edmund S. Higgins, MD.

Edmund Higgins, MD Dr. Higgins has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

A host of anti-inflammatory medicines are effective in treatment-resistant depression, particularly celecoxib.

The Neuroscience Behind Addictions and SSRIs

June 1, 2018

Edmund S. Higgins, MD.

Edmund M. Higgins, MD Clinical associate professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina. Co-author of The Neuroscience of Clinical Psychiatry: The Pathophysiology of Behavior and Mental Illness, 3rd ed. (Wolters Kluwer). Dr. Higgins has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

If we think of the molecules (the endorphins or the opioids) as “keys” and the receptors on the neurons as “locks,” then one needs the right key in the lock to get the reward—to turn on the good feelings.