ArticleBiomedical engineering online2019
Functional electrical stimulation of the facial muscles to improve symptoms in individuals with major depressive disorder: pilot feasibility study.
Article in Biomedical engineering online, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Application of facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES) in psychophysiological research: Practical recommendations based on a systematic review of the literature.Behavior research methods · 2024Guideline
- Effects of Facial Muscles Exercise on Mental Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- FaReWell Depression - a randomized controlled trial of a physiotherapeutic program for the facial rehabilitation of wellbeing in depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Functional electrical stimulation for major depressive disorder: Protocol for a pilot randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2026Article
- "Take-home" functional electrical stimulation for depression: protocol for a prototype development and proof of concept randomized controlled trial.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Effects of different electrical stimulation on depression: a protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Zygomaticus activation through facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation (fNMES) induces happiness perception in ambiguous facial expressions and affects neural correlates of face processing.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2024Article
- Manipulating facial musculature with functional electrical stimulation as an intervention for major depressive disorder: a focused search of literature for a proposal.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2023Review
- Volunteers' concerns about facial neuromuscular electrical stimulation.BMC psychology · 2022Article
- The effects of online facial muscle training with resonance vocalization on mental health in postpartum women: A single-arm pilot study.Women's health (London, England)Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCurrently, the mainstay of treatment in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD) requiring medical attention is second generation anti-depressants. However, about 40% of patients treated with second-generation anti-depressants do not respond to initial treatment and approximately 70% do not achieve remission during the first-step treatment. There are a few non-pharmacological options available, but none have shown consistently positive results. There is a need for an intervention that is relatively easy to administer, produces consistently positive results and is associated with minimal side effects. In the current study, we assessed the feasibility of using transcutaneous Functional Electrical Stimulation Therapy (FEST) of the facial muscles, as a tool for improving depressive symptoms in individuals with MDD.
resultsTen (10) individuals with moderate to severe MDD received three FEST sessions/week for a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 40 sessions. All study participants completed the required 10 therapy sessions, and 5 of the 10 participants completed additional 30 (totalling 40) FEST sessions. There were no adverse events or concerns regarding compliance to therapy. We found statistically significant improvements on Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HDS) and Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS) measures. However, no significant improvements were found on Positive and Negative Affect Scale and 10-point Visual Analogue Scale scales. Participants reported improvements in sleeping patterns, and this correlated with statistically significant improvements on sleep parameters of HDS and IDS measures.
conclusionThis study indicates that facial FEST is an acceptable, practical, and safe treatment in individuals with MDD. We provide preliminary evidence to show improvements in depressive symptoms following a minimum of 10 FEST sessions.
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