Clinical Neuroscience of ECT (CNECT)

Out on PubMed, from researchers in Glostrup, Denmark, is this study: Hippocampal Volume and Memory Impairment after Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients with Depression. Gbyl K, Støttrup MM, Mitta Raghava J, Song XJ, Videbech P. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2020 Nov 29. doi: 10.1111/acps.13259. Online ahead of print. PMID:  33251575 The abstract is copied below: Objective: Patients hesitate to consent to Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) because of the fear of memory impairment. The mechanisms underlying this impairment are unclear, but several observations suggest hippocampal alterations may be involved. We investigated whether ECT-induced change in hippocampal volume correlates with memory impairment. Methods: Using a 3T MRI-scanner, we acquired brain images and assessed cognitive performance in 22 severely depressed patients at three time-points: (1) before ECT series, (2) within one week after the series, and (3) at six-month follow-up. The hippocampus was segmented into subregions using F

Out on Pubmed, from investigators in Glostrup and Copenhagen, Denmark, is this study: Volume of hippocampal subregions and clinical improvement following electroconvulsive therapy in patients with depression. Gbyl K, Rostrup E, Raghava JM, Andersen C, Rosenberg R, Larsson HBW, Videbech P. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2020 Jul 27:110048. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2020.110048. Online ahead of print. PMID:  32730916 The abstract is copied below: Abstract It is thought that the hippocampal neurogenesis is an important mediator of the antidepressant effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). However, most previous studies failed to demonstrate the relationship between the increase in the hippocampal volume and the antidepressant effect. We reinvestigated this relationship by looking at distinct hippocampal subregions and applying repeated measures correlation. Using a 3 Tesla MRI-scanner, we scanned 22 severely depressed in-patients at three time points: before the ECT series, afte

Another important ECT neuroimaging study was published yesterday by the UCLA group headed by Katherine Narr and Randall Espinoza: Hippocampal subregions and networks linked with antidepressant response to  electroconvulsive  therapy. Leaver AM, et al. Mol Psychiatry 2020. PMID  32029885 Below is the url for the pdf: https://drive.google.com/file/d/124QDYiUbvoqBVUkQNwTk5RkhMZqFnNIj/view?usp=sharing 44 patients with either unipolar or bipolar depression underwent a course of mostly right unilateral ECT. 36 healthy controls served as comparators. Participants received multimodal MRI, cognitive testing and depression ratings at four  time points: 1) baseline, 2) before the 3rd ECT, 3) after the index course of ECT, and 4) 6 months after ECT.  The main findings were:  -responders  showed increased CBF (cerebral blood flow) in right middle and left posterior hippocampus -nonresponders showed increased CBF in bilateral anterior hippocampus   - responders  showed increased