Scientists have proposed a method to enhance the effectiveness of psychotherapy.

In modern medicine, brain stimulation is actively utilized. Recent scientific studies indicate that it can enhance memory and assist in managing mental health conditions, such as depression.

Experts from several universities in Italy, drawing on their own research and the experience of colleagues, proposed combining two popular treatment methods for mental disorders—psychotherapy and non-invasive brain stimulation. An article suggesting that stimulation can amplify the effectiveness of psychotherapy was published in the scientific journal Neural Plasticity.

As changes during the treatment of mental disorders affect not only neurons but also cognitive abilities and behavior, the authors of the publication, following their colleagues, proposed distinguishing two additional forms of plasticity alongside neural plasticity—mental and behavioral. The first allows individuals to adapt to changes in their environment by managing their emotional states and thoughts, while the second enables adaptation to circumstances by altering behavior. According to previous publications, these forms of plasticity extend beyond the neural sphere but are still connected to it.

Psychotherapy largely aims to enhance the mental plasticity of the patient, while non-invasive brain stimulation boosts neural plasticity, impacting cognitive abilities and behavior. However, an increase in neural plasticity does not necessarily mean that an individual becomes more flexible in cognitive and behavioral terms.

To ensure that neural, mental, and behavioral plasticity improve sequentially and simultaneously, the authors of the publication suggested developing a treatment strategy that combines psychotherapy with non-invasive brain stimulation. Their research showed that non-invasive brain stimulation, when used in this approach, will primarily influence neural plasticity but will also indirectly modify behavioral plasticity by alleviating symptoms in a relatively short timeframe. In contrast, psychotherapeutic methods will primarily be responsible for behavioral and mental plasticity but will, in the long term, affect neural plasticity.

The method described, according to the researchers, will not only make the treatment of mental disorders more effective but also help avoid excessive stimulation of neural circuits. Additionally, the intervention can be made more targeted, preventing it from "spreading" across broader networks of the brain.

Researchers emphasized that the treatment scheme they proposed has yet to be tested in preclinical and clinical studies. It is a hypothesis formulated based on existing scientific work and, in their opinion, worthy of consideration. Future research should account for factors such as medication intake, which also impacts various forms of plasticity, explore invasive brain stimulation methods, and establish a "gold standard" for "combined" therapy.