The Soterix Medical 1X1 mini-CT will be used to determine the safety and efficacy of home-based transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in treating unipolar depression. Specifically efficacy will be determined by change in MADRS score from baseline to the 10 week follow-up. Feasibility and compliance will be determined by low drop out rate and percentage of scheduled sessions completed. Self-reported mood scores will be evaluated using the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR) and Quality of Life enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire Form (Q-LES-Q-SF). All visits will be performed via telephone or video conference. Subjects will be taught to operate the tDCS system and complete a tolerability check. The treatment course will consist of an acute phase of 28 tDCS sessions conducted Monday - Friday over 6 weeks. This is followed by a taper of 4 tDCS sessions spaced 1 week apart. Patients who meet criteria for clinical response (>=50% improvement in MADRS) may continue with maintenance treatments of once a week for 2 months and once every 2 weeks for the remaining 3 months. Mood assessments will be conducted at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks in the acute treatment phase. In the taper phase, assessments wil be conducted at 1 month (end of taper), 3 and 6 months following completion of the acute phase. All assessments in the acute treatment phase and the taper phase will have a +/- 1 week collection window.
This study will determine the safety and efficacy of home administered tDCS in adults with unipolar depression. The device used to administer tDCS will be the Soterix Medical 1X1 mini-CT. 32 tDCS sessions of 30 minutes each will be delivered over 10 weeks.