Hello, my name is Anne C., I am a trained electroradiology technician.
I've been working in a psychiatric hospital for a few years
and I'm doing electroencephalography. Two years ago the director of the hospital where
I work, asked me if I was interested in so that our patients in Quimper could benefit from
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. What happens is that we mutualize our
TMS device, here in Quimper with the team of the Pain Assessment Centre. I use
the device just in the afternoon. We have two main indications : depression and the other
main indication is schizophrenia but essentially for auditory hallucinations.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is a non-invasive method of stimulation
of neurons. It is more like neuromodulation because in some cases you inhibit
the cerebral cortex and in other cases you excite. So we'll put our coil :
it's a magnet and when its field comes to interact with the neurons it will turn into
electric current and so it will act differently, depending on the target area.
We stimulate the prefrontal cortex in both cortices and
if one of them is working too much, it's going to be at the expense of the other one and to the detriment of the other and vice versa.
so the goal is to balance between the two prefrontal cortexes and so otherwise in
then auditory hallucinations, the temporo-parietal cortex is where we're going to act.
TMS gives our patients a decrease in depressive symptoms, like a lack of
energy, the desire to do nothing... We stimulate them and they will want to go out and see people...
For the other indication, auditory hallucinations, the voices that the patients hear in
the case of schizophrenia, which are really pervasive, will diminish.
Depression can be associated with other pathologies like anorexia, bulimia.
I've been using the neuronavigator for two years. It's true that it's a real plus
since it is personalised. We use the patient's brain MRI.
This is their cerebral MRI, their motor cortex, their prefrontal cortex, so it's very precise.
It's a bit of a challenge compared to what I've done before.
It's also for the relational side with the patient, which I still see on
the long term. I have the chance to see them for six weeks and I find that
that's what's really interesting to see the evolution of the patients. It's very rewarding.