A narrative review on neuromodulation for psychiatric disorders: Mechanisms, clinical applications, and future directions

• Author Details:   
• Shivam Dubey ^*

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Neuromodulation has become a revolutionary treatment modality in psychiatry, delivering circuit-specific interventions to treat refractory conditions like major depressive disorder (MDD), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and schizophrenia. Both non-invasive methods—repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), theta-burst stimulation (TBS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS)—and invasive methods—vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and deep brain stimulation (DBS)—have shown remarkable clinical effectiveness, with underlying mechanisms including modulation of cortical excitability, neurotransmitter networks, and neural connectome. Recent developments in personalized targeting, closed-loop technologies, and biomarker-guided stimulation are improving therapeutic responses and ushering in the age of precision psychiatry. This review integrates current evidence on mechanisms, effectiveness, safety, and translational potential of neuromodulation across psychiatric illnesses.