Parsing the Network Mechanisms of Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy is one of the oldest and most effective forms of neurostimulation, where electrical current is used to elicit brief, generalized seizures under general anesthesia. When electrodes are positioned to target fronto-temporal cortex, ECT is arguably the most effective treatment for severe major depression, with response rates and times superior to other available antidepressant therapies. Neuroimaging research has been pivotal in improving the field ’s mechanistic understanding of ECT, with a growing number of MRI studies demonstrating hippocampal plasticity after ECT, in line with evidence of upregulated neurotrophic processes in the hippocampus in animal models.
Source: Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research