Brain Oscillation-synchronized Stimulation of the Frontal Cortex in Major Depressive Disorder

Exclusion Criteria

• •Subject is under the age of legal consent.
• •Subject has a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
• •Subject suffers from current symptoms of psychosis.
• •Subject has active suicidal ideation with plan and/or intent.
• •A current major depressive episode longer than 5 years.
• •Subject has a history of substance abuse or dependence within the past 2 years.
• •Subject has a diagnosis of antisocial or borderline personality disorder.
• •Subject suffers from other major psychiatric or medical comorbidity
• •Subject has a history of seizure disorder
• •Subject has a history of severe head injury with loss of consciousness.
• •Subject had a prior brain surgery
• •Subjects with intake of pro-convulsive medication, e.g. imipramine, amitriptyline, doxepin, nortriptyline, maprotiline, chlorpromazine, clozapine, foscarnet, ganciclovir, ritonavir, amphetamines, cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy), phencyclidine (PCP, angel's dust), ketamine, gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), alcohol, theophylline, in accord with present consensus guidelines on safety, ethical considerations, and application of TMS in clinical practice and research.
• •Daily intake of Benzodiazepines other than Lorazepam \>1 mg/d
• •Subject has a cardiac pacemaker, implanted medication pump, intracardiac line, or acute, unstable cardiac disease.
• •Subject has an intracranial implant (e.g., aneurysm clips, shunts, stimulators, cochlear implants, or electrodes) or any other metal object within or near the head (excluding the mouth) that cannot be safely removed.
• •Subject has participated in another study within 2 weeks prior to the first study visit.
• •Subject has contra-indications to MRI scans or does not agree that (1) the scans are obtained for research purposes only and will not be evaluated by a qualified neuroradiologist; if an abnormality is present, this may well not be noticed by the doctors, scientists and other staff involved in the study and handling the MRI da-ta; and that (2) if any of the staff involved in the study do suspect a relevant ab-normality to be present in any of the scans, they will reveal this to the subject so that a further diagnostic workup can be conducted outside of the study.
• •Subject is pregnant or trying to get pregnant. If someone is not sure weather she is pregnant or not we will test HCG in the urine.
• •Planned or anticipated changes of medication within the study period. If a change in medication is necessary, further study participation is no longer possible.