Electroconvulsive therapy “corrects” the neural architecture of visuospatial memory: Implications for typical cognitive-affective functioning

Publication date: Available online 5 April 2019Source: NeuroImage: ClinicalAuthor(s): Raluca Petrican, Hedvig Söderlund, Namita Kumar, Zafiris J. Daskalakis, Alastair Flint, Brian LevineAbstractAlthough electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a widely used and effective treatment for refractory depression, the neural underpinnings of its therapeutic effects remain poorly understood. To address this issue, here, we focused on a core cognitive deficit associated with depression, which tends to be reliably ameliorated through ECT, specifically, the ability to learn visuospatial information. Thus, we pursued three goals. First, we tested whether ECT can “normalize” the functional brain organization patterns associated with visuospatial memory and whether such corrections would predict post-ECT improvements in learning visuospatial information. Second, we investigated whether, among healthy individuals, stronger expression of the neural pattern, susceptible to adjustments through ECT, would predict reduced incidence of depression-relevant cognition and affect. Third, we sough to quantify the heritability of the ECT-correctable neural profile. Thus, in a task fMRI study with a clinical and a healthy comparison sample, we characterized two functional connectome patterns: one that typifies trait depression (i.e., differentiates patients from healthy individuals) and another that is susceptible to “normalization” through ECT. Both before and after ECT, greater expression of the tr...
Source: NeuroImage: Clinical - Category: Radiology Source Type: research