Clinical Neuroscience of ECT (CNECT)

Just a reminder the the new APA Task Force Report book on ECT is available. It contains nearly 2000 ECT references, so is a good entry point into the ECT literature. It also has sample consent forms that can be used as modifiable templates.

 Here is another ECT question to OpenEvidence: Here is another example of OpenEvidence getting it right about ECT. I blog about this to encourage readers to use OE as an entry point into the ECT literature.

 Ouit on PubMed, from investigators in Singapore, is this study: Use of Electroconvulsive Therapy Treatment in Adolescents in Singapore. Chen B, Fu Y, Li Z, Tan X, Li J, Herrera MM, Koh DSH, Tor PC. J ECT. 2024 Dec 24. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001101. Online ahead of print. PMID:  39792650 The abstract is copied below: Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for schizophrenia and mood disorders; however, most evidence is derived from the adult population, with less evidence in adolescents. We sought to determine the use of ECT in adolescents in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) and evaluate the treatment outcome. Methods: We conducted a retrospective naturalistic analysis of ECT registry data of patients aged from 10 to 19 years from March 2017 to March 2023. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the demographics and clinical characteristics. Paired t tests were used to compare the change in clinical outcome scores, including the Br...

Out on PubMed, from authors in China, is this paper: Suicidal risk is associated with hyper-connections in the frontal-parietal network in patients with depression. Ren Y, Li M, Yang C, Jiang W, Wu H, Pan R, Yang Z, Wang X, Wang W, Wang W, Jin W, Ma X, Liu H, Li R. Transl Psychiatry. 2025 Feb 12;15(1):49. doi: 10.1038/s41398-025-03249-y. PMID:  39939611 The abstract is copied below: Suicide is a complex behavior strongly associated with depression. Despite extensive research, an objective biomarker for evaluating suicide risk precisely and timely is still lacking. Using the precision resting-state fMRI method, we studied 61 depressive patients with suicide ideation (SI) or suicide attempt (SA), and 35 patients without SI to explore functional biomarkers of suicide risk. Among them, 21 participants also completed electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment, allowing the examination of functional changes across different risk states within the same individual. Functional networks were...

 Out on PubMed, from researchers in Germany, is this paper: Machine learning based seizure classification and digital biosignal analysis of ECT seizures. Kayser M, Hurlemann R, Philipsen A, Freundlieb N, Kiebs M. Sci Rep. 2025 Feb 21;15(1):6409. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-88238-3. PMID:  39984540 The abstract is copied below: While artificial intelligence has received considerable attention in various medical fields, its application in the field of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains rather limited. With the advent of digital seizure collection systems, the development of novel ECT seizure quality metrics and treatment guidance systems in particular will require cutting-edge digital seizure analysis. Using artificial intelligence will offer more analytical degrees of freedom and could play a key role in enhancing the precision of currently available procedures. To this end, we developed the first machine learning (ML) framework that can classify ictal and non-ictal EEG segmen...

   Out on PubMed, from international investigators is this commentary: Electroconvulsive Therapy and Its New Competitors: ECT Remains the Gold Standard. Zilles-Wegner D,  Kellner CH , Sartorius A. J ECT. 2024 Dec 1;40(4):e31-e32. doi: 10.1097/YCT.0000000000001034. Epub 2024 Jul 8. PMID:  38968450   The commentary is here . And here: Thanks to my esteemed German colleagues for the opportunity to collaborate with them on this commentary. We feel it is important to continue to advocate for the fair representation of ECT in studies of comparator experimental and newly approved therapies. It is not that we are Luddites, but prematurely throwing the baby out with the bathwater serves no-one, and is a reckless disservice to our most seriously ill patients.