The days when people suffering from severe depressions could only be cured or treated by means such as psychotherapy, drugs, or electric shock therapy are over.

This is the belief of Margaret Ayers, Director of Research at the Los Angeles-based Biofeedback and Advanced Therapy Institute, whose research has indicated that depressives can be cured physio-logically.

Key to this five-year long research program was Ms. Ayers' isolation of a brain wave pattern, marked by slow waves and high- voltage, associated with primary unipolar depression or depression without a manic phase. This discovery was followed by finding the appropriate physiological means to cure such depressions.

"Until now, severe depressions have been considered to be pri-marily psychological in origin," said Ms. Ayers, 35. "Treatment generally starts with psychotherapy, and if that fails, drugs or electroshock therapy is often used."

Physiology: But, Ms. Ayers' instincts, based on observation of depressed patients, indicated otherwise. Starting with the premise that many severely depressed individuals have physiological symptoms such as insomnia, hypersomnia, loss of weight, referred pain headaches, slow motor activity, and even hypertension, she decided to approach depression as a physiological problem.

"My concept was to change the physiology to affect a change in the patient's psychology, which is the reverse perception of our society. We still suffer from a hangover of the Horatio Alger myth, perhaps expecting too much self-reliance from individuals afflicted with mental illness or depressions," Ms. Ayers said.

Similarly, Ms. Ayers contends: "Both laymen and professionals all too frequently give depressives a sort of whipped dog syndrome, suggesting that they haven't exercised enough willpower. This will-power approach suggests that we're all physiologically equal, which ignores genetics as well as a body of demonstrated evidence of the inheritance of affective disorders. Patients have told me, 'I must be doing something wrong', and 'I'm not trying hard enough', which indicates that often an unfair burden is placed on severely depres-sed people."

Non-Invasive: However, changing brain wave patterns to change emotive behavior had never been done before. "If I was right in my theory, then the question would become how to alter physiology to affect a cure for depression but, in a non-invasive way. And the big problem would be to inhibit the slow wave, high-voltage brain pattern that went with severe depression," Ms. Ayers explained.

Work With Epileptics: Her research program began in 1975, when she served as an Electroencephalographer and Research Associate at Sepulveda Veterans Hospital, through the U.C.L.A. School of Medi-cine, and worked with epileptics. She started with an intensive look at the sleep recordings of these patients. These recordings and EEG's traced the frequency and voltage of electrical activity in specific areas of the brain.

"These sleep recordings revealed a distinct pattern of dis-organized sleep with a mixing of the stages of sleep, and a tendency for motor twitchings."

"Utilization of biofeedback techniques succeeded in reducing the seizures suffered by these epileptics," Ms. Ayers recalled. "But, the treatment also succeeded in showing an increase in their ability to concentrate, think more clearly, have more energy, and less referred pains."

"These additional reactions were, however, dismissed as side-effects created by the epileptics simply being pleased to have fewer seizures," Ms. Ayers added.

Feeling more must be involved, she was determined to carry on her research to see where it would lead and if she could establish a scientific underpinning for her theory.

Enter Lyn Paul Taylor, a Registered Physical Therapist and Director of the Biofeedback and Advanced Therapy Institute. "He was interested in my theory and encouraged me to continue my research and prove the validity of my concept."

Volunteers: Obtaining a new piece of biofeedback equipment called the Neuroanalyzer 4000, Ms. Ayers made some modifications in this unit in terms of voltage frequencies conducive to her research, and proceeded to test her premise with a trio of depressed patients who volunteered for the program.

Working at the institute, she concentrated now on the wake patterns of these depressives and discovered through their EEG's, that these individuals also displayed brain wave patterns with the high-voltage, slow wave characteristics she had found in the sleep patterns of the epileptics.

"These patients were then treated and trained to produce de-sired EEG wave patterns and, at the same time, to suppress unfavor-able wave patterns. Behavioral changes resulted as the individuals succeeded in inhibiting one brain wave frequency associated with depression and simultaneously producing another brain wave that in-hibited the depression."

Psychological Confirmation: Subsequently, these patients were then checked by an independent clinical psychologist who was unaware of the research Ms. Ayers had conducted. His findings confirmed that these patients' depressions had lifted.

Since the initial group in 1978, Ms. Ayers has treated over 30 other depressed patients. "They've all reported increased energy and clearer thinking, and that such related problems as migraines and other referred pains have disappeared as the brain wave patterns changed."

One representative patient, Ms. Ayers recalled, was a woman who had tried various anti-depressive medicines, EST, group therapy, rolfing, primal scream therapy, and spent five years in psychoanaly-sis. "After all this, she was still suicidal. All we did was change her brain wave patterns and she's doing fine now, almost two years after her treatment."

No Needles: Specifically, the treatment is conducted by plac-ing surface electrodes (no needles) over the sensorimotor cortex, which lies under the skull within a one-inch strip running over the top of the head from ear to ear. The electrodes are connected to the Neuroanalyzer unit, which is linked with a polygraph unit whose function is to display filtered brain waves on paper. Basically, the polygraph unit serves as a recording device.

The EEG feedback provides, simultaneously, positive rewards for a specific frequency band, while also indicating if there is a nega-tive response of slow wave, high-voltage brain wave activity. The positive rewards consist of an orange light, a digital number dis-play, and a beep tone which can be activated only in the absence of the negative frequency band or any high-voltage brain activity.

When the inhibit channel is activated, a red light goes on and all positive rewards are inhibited. The patient is able to see the red light and thus, try to keep it from going on.

Changing of the amplitude requirements to obtain a reward makes the treatment progressively more difficult and serves to refine the learning process for the brain.

"It's my contention that I discovered a basic paradox, a posi-tive paradox, in brain activity: the brain doesn't know how to correct itself in a depressive situation until it's told what it shouldn't do first. That's why this instrumentation is so impor-tant. It combines inhibition and reward simultaneously. What happens is that the brain in an effort to establish homeostasis or normal balance can produce high-frequency brain waves in an effort to inhibit slow wave activity but, once the brain is successfully taught this dual process, both brain wave patterns disappear."

Ms. Ayers estimated that it usually takes two to three months treatment at the rate of one or two half-hour long "train the brain" sessions to affect a cure for severe depressions.

"The results we've obtained thus far, have led us to believe that a non- invasive treatment that has shown no side-effects and indicated that a once- learned brain wave pattern remains long after training ends, offers hope for one of our biggest health problems."

The system of physiological treatment has now been expanded for use with hypoglycemic and hypertensive depressives. "We've been successful with this type of patient too, with the length of treat-ment about the same as with other depressives."

At the Biofeedback and Advanced Therapy Institute, Ms. Ayers works with a staff that also includes speech pathologists, and occu-pational and physical therapists.

Originally from the Seattle area of Washington, and now a resi-dent of the Sunland/Tujunga area in Southern California, Ms. Ayers was named to the "Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities" in both 1967, and 1973, and was a delegate to a 1970 White House Conference on Children and Youth, and was named "Out-standing Young Woman of America for Washington State" in 1972. She has also lectured on "EEG and Depression" at the University of Southern California and appeared on various television shows includ-ing "Dr. Brennan's Science Safari" on KCET-TV in Los Angeles.

In addition, she has also been called upon as an expert witness by courts in determining the condition of people on trial. "This is an interesting new trend, as in the past such people have usually been only given standard psychological, rather than physiological tests."

But, her major accomplishment remains helping to open up a new avenue of treatment for depressives, which is no small feat con-sidering that some estimates have placed the number of Americans suffering from depression at around 40 million.

"Let's Live", Mr. Jack Adler - Author (January of 1982, Pages 29-31)