University of Helsinki

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Researchers identify five brain activity profiles in major depressive disorder

As of September 2026: Conducted the study

Depression treatment is mostly trial and error: a patient tries an antidepressant, waits weeks, and often switches when nothing helps. A University of Helsinki team used magnetoencephalography (MEG), which records brain electrical activity with millisecond precision, to investigate why response varies so much. Scanning 263 people with major depressive disorder and 75 healthy controls, they sorted patients into five distinct brain-activity profiles.

Updated Sep 25