A new research has said that magnets may treat depression in individuals who have not reacted earlier to medications.

A research group from Medical University of South Carolina, US, has disclosed that individuals who had magnets attached to their heads to actuate certain parts of the brain were more likely to report relief from depressive disorder as compared to those treated with a similar device without a magnet.

The research comprised 190 individuals, of which just under half were randomly assigned to get the transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment.

These partakers had to wear a helmet like device, which applied a magnetic current to brain's front part for around 37 minutes daily for three weeks.

The others participants put on the same helmet for the same period but the magnetic field was blocked.

The results disclosed 14% of partakers who had the real magnetic treatment reported relief from depression, compared with 5% who had the sham treatment.

Dr. Mark George, lead author of the research, said, "The results of this study suggest that prefrontal repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a monotherapy with few adverse effects and significant antidepressant effects for unipolar depressed patients who do not respond to medications or who cannot tolerate them." (With Inputs from Agencies)