BACKGROUND: Depression is a common disorder, affecting about one in eight people. The World Health Organization lists depression as one of the top causes of death in the world. Antidepressants are one way to effectively relieve the symptoms of depression. Finding the right medication, however, can be complicated. Fewer than 40 percent of patients have complete remission of their depression symptoms with their first medication attempt. Often, patients must try a series of medication or combinations to get relief. This process can take months or years.

A NEW APPROACH: Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles say there may now be a faster way to figure out which meds will knock out a person's depression best. A UCLA study showed that measurable changes in the front of the brain can predict the effectiveness of an antidepressant within days of treatment -- weeks before a patient begins to feel better.

Andrew F. Leuchter, M.D., is a UCLA professor of psychiatry and Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences in the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at the UCLA. "Odds are the first medicine you choose for a patient is not going to be the one that is going to get them all the way to well," says Dr. Leuchter. "So what we really need is a more intelligent way to choose medications and customize it so that we find the right drug for the right patient."

BRAIN WAVE TECHNOLOGY: Using quantitative EEG, a non-invasive computerized measurement of brain wave patterns, researchers discovered that specific changes in brain-wave activity precede clinical changes brought on by medication. "So we can, within 10 or 15 minutes, record enough brain activity that we can get a good assessment of how a patient's doing on a medication, and it's something that is practical enough and can be done in any doctor's office," says Dr. Leuchter.

They record the EEG before the start of treatment and then record a second EEG at the end of the first week of treatment. At this point, doctors can see how that individual's brain is responding to the antidepressant. "If they show the right signal we can say with a pretty good degree of certainty that is the right medication," he says. More than just helping get the right medication, the process can help encourage a patient to stick with their prescribed treatment. Within days, rather than weeks or months, the doctor and patient can feel more secure about the treatment plan. This technique also could slash the time and costs needed to develop and research new antidepressants, according to researchers.

"It's something that we have been working on now for about 12 years in terms of trying to develop the technology that could be used in the doctor's office," says Dr. Leuchter. "Now, we think we are on the verge of doing that and if this study is positive, we hope that we will be able to submit some of this data to the FDA within three or four years and actually get approval to use this as a test in the clinical setting."