Directors: Dr Frederic Boy and Sian Roderick

A WHITLAND company could join the fight against stress and mood swings, following research by Swansea University Doctors.

Magstim, which has been at the cutting edge of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) for many years, could find themselves developing research recently carried out at the University of Swansea.

Brain scientists and psychologists at the university are developing a new technique which can reduce the impact of stress on mood and help improve your emotional wellbeing.

Dr Frederic Boy, who works at both the College of Human and Health Science and the School of Management at the university, is leading the research. And his work is already receiving international interest in the short period since his paper was published in scientific journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Dr Boy said: “When facing stressful events, the frontal regions of the brain are particularly active and constantly appraise the positive or negative emotions which are generated, and that will, in turn, shape how we react to situations.

“Over time, the negative impact of stressors build up and the physical and emotional wellbeing may be compromised. We asked ourselves – can the impact of stress on the brain of a non-depressed individual be reduced?”

Along with fellow academic Sian Roderick, new brain science research employing weak electrical impulses to stimulate the frontal cortex by placing electrodes on the top of the head has been developed.

And if this sounds like a intimidating process, Sian says the technique is actually very simple and the stimulation is very subtle. She said: “We don’t want anyone to think this is like electrical treatments used in the past. The volunteers were all very relaxed with the process and the stimulation lasts for a very short period and feels like a much weaker version of a TENS machine, for example.”

Dr Boy added: “Advances in transcranial electrical stimulation techniques mean we are able to investigate different clinical and nonclinical people and specific areas of the human brain and see how those regions regulate people’s behaviour.

“What was clear is that the way people behave results from a complex interaction between a number of genetic, social and environmental factors.”

The scientists studied 66 healthy young women, with no history of psychiatric disorders or substance dependence. The volunteers filled in questionnaires, which helped assess different aspects of their current mood, the building bricks of the emotional and physical wellbeing. They underwent a course of 12 min-a-day brain electrical stimulations sessions for five days. A total of 22 individuals received an ineffective, but realistic, placebo stimulation, while the 44 others were administered a real, active stimulation.

Dr Boy explained: “This technique employs electrical power that is more than a thousand times lower than the one used by an energy saving light bulb, and result in a feeble tingling lasting a few seconds in the first instants of the stimulation session.”

Over the duration of the research, the team found that those volunteers who received the active stimulation gradually reported having experienced less negative mood states in the past day. On the contrary, participants in the placebo group did not report notable changes in mood.

“This type of treatment has been accredited by the NHS to be used to treat depression last August. We have shown that weak electric stimulation is also effective to improve the mood of those who are not depressed, but are still affected by the consequence of a stressful, restless and demanding lifestyle,” added Dr Boy, who is Head of Translational and Consumer Neuroscience in the Department of Psychology.

“This technique is based on robust scientific research and we hope it will be developed to create an over-thecounter device which can be used to improve mood and lower stress.”

With the recent statistics showing that more and more young people, are turning to medicating their emotional wellbeing – the number of young people in the UK prescribed anti-depressants increased by more than 50% between 2005 and 2012, according to the new study – could Dr Boy’s research lead to a reduction in this worrying trend?

“Yes, we are hopeful this research can assist in the treatment of low mood without having to resort to medication. “As well as the possible side effects this type of treatment can have on the patient, prescribing drugs in the first instance is a huge drain on the NHS. We are aiming to align our work with the Prudent Healthcare agenda set out by the Health Minister.

“As a university we are excited to be part of ARCH (A Regional Collaboration for Health).

“The ARCH partners are working to use innovation and research to drive health service improvements and we believe this research could be a part of this transformational approach.

“We hope that in developing a device which people can choose to use we are also empowering the population to take responsibility for their own health and wellbeing.”

Dr Boy and Sian Roderick are both directors of the emerging life science firm Neurotheraputics, and are hopeful their research can be developed by West Wales medical devices firm Magstim.

The Whitland-based company, who pioneer and manufacture non-invasive magnetic stimulation devices, say they are excited by the research.

Charles Hounsell, Magstim product specialist, said: “Magstim is delighted to explore opportunities with Swansea University to expand our understanding of therapeutic techniques using neurostimulation devices.

“The field of non-invasive brain stimulation is expanding rapidly and we are hugely excited about the potential benefits of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). We look forward to discussing this research further with Dr Boy and his team.”