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Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Non-invasive neuromodulation for geriatric depression

evidence supporting their effectiveness remains limited. (grant number 202303090378) and the Key Research Plan
tVNS, a low-risk form of stimulation, may offer an effective of Jining City (grant number 2023YXNS006).
alternative for treating chronic geriatric depression, with
evidence suggesting its safety and efficacy in this patient Conflict of interest
population. Safe, effective, and cost-efficient BLT warrants Kun Li is the Editorial Board Member of this journal but
broader application in various settings. In contrast, music was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review
therapy and TUS, though promising, are still limited in use. process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly.

This study comprehensively reviews the research Separately, other authors declared that they have no known
progress in non-invasive neural regulation techniques competing financial interests or personal relationships that
in the treatment of geriatric depression. Despite some could have influenced the work reported in this paper.
progress, limitations remain. First, the strength of evidence
for the efficacy of different non-invasive neuromodulation Author contributions
techniques is inconsistent. For example, research on ECT Conceptualization: Kun Li
and rTMS is more substantial, whereas that on tACS, tVNS, Writing – original draft: Guanqiao Song, Yihan Wu, Huili
music therapy, and TUS is relatively scarce. In addition, Xing, Ronglian Zheng, Yining Kou
many studies have small sample sizes and lack diversity, Writing – review & editing: Kun Li, Guanqiao Song, Yihan
which limits the generalizability of their results. Most Wu, Huili Xing, Chenchen Zhang, Meng Zhang
studies have focused on short-term treatment outcomes
and provide insufficient data on long-term effects and Ethics approval and consent to participate
stability. Regarding personalized treatment parameters,
current research is not yet mature. Relatively little research Not applicable.
has been conducted on customized treatment plans based Consent for publication
on individual differences, which hampers the ability to
provide accurate personalized treatment for patients. Not applicable.
Although combination therapies have shown potential,
research on specific combination therapy regimens and Availability of data
their efficacy evaluations is still limited. Finally, research Not applicable.
evidence on the mechanisms of action of non-invasive
neural regulation techniques, particularly emerging References
technologies such as tACS and TUS, is insufficient.
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To address the limitations of existing research, large- depression? Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2013;36(4):483-496.
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to enhance the reliability of results. Long-term follow-up
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The World Health Organization composite international
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combined treatment strategies to improve therapeutic
outcomes. Moreover, researchers should explore the doi: 10.1002/mpr.47
mechanisms of action of emerging technologies and 3. McCall WV, Kintziger KW. Late life depression: A global
integrate neuroimaging techniques to identify biomarkers problem with few resources. Psychiatr Clin North Am.
predictive of treatment efficacy, thereby achieving precision 2013;36(4):475-481.
medicine. These research directions hold promise for doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2013.07.001
providing more effective strategies for treating late-life
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Acknowledgments epidemiological surveys. Asian J Psychiatr. 2023;80:103417.

None. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103417
5. Nishida H, Takamiya A, Kudo S, et al. Characteristics
Funding of severe late-life depression in the prodromal phase of

This work was supported by the Medical and Health Science neurodegenerative dementia. AJGP Open. 2025;5:10-20.
and Technology Development Plan of Shandong Province doi: 10.1016/j.osep.2024.10.003

Volume 3 Issue 3 (2025) 8 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.5019