Your brain waves could predict if an antidepressant will work for you

For patients seeking relief from depression, it can take months to pin down an effective treatment. But brain wave patterns could potentially help to predict how individual patients would respond to an antidepressant before treatment even begins, according to a new study published Feb. 10 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The study addresses one of psychiatry's fundamental challenges: a lack of tests that can help doctors decide the best treatment options for patients with depression, said study co-author Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a psychiatry professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Instead, Trivedi said, providers rely on a trial-and-error process in which patients try out medications on six- to eight-week cycles. This imprecise method contributes to a general perception that antidepressants are ineffective, added Dr. Amit Etkin, study co-author and a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University.