Electroconvulsive therapy and mental retardation
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 20, 2026

Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins
Published on: August 15, 2017
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, SUNY at Stony Brook, Long Island, NY 11794, USA.
Abstract:
Reports on use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in persons with mental retardation (MR) and mental illness are meager. We describe the successful use of ECT in the management of medication-resistant mental illness in persons with mental retardation. Details of the treatment of five patients with MR and psychotic disorders are reported. ECT was successful after the failure of adequate trials of traditional pharmacotherapy. Persons with MR did not have disproportionate adverse effects of ECT as a consequence of the MR. Four of the five cases reported received maintenance ECT. ECT should be considered in the affective and psychotic disorders occurring in persons with MR when traditional pharmacotherapy fails.
Related Concept Videos
Electroconvulsive Therapy
Epilepsy and Seizures: Overview
Various factors can trigger epilepsy, including genetic factors, brain damage, metabolic causes, and unknown etiology. Diagnosis of epilepsy involves electroencephalography (EEG), which...
Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy
Antiepileptic Drugs: Potassium Channel Activators
Ezogabine has gained approval as an adjunctive treatment...
Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
Antiepileptic Drugs: Modulators of Neurotransmitter Release Mediated by SV2A Protein
SV2A is a transmembrane glycoprotein located predominantly in the brain, modulating the release of neurotransmitters for neuronal communication. Both levetiracetam and brivaracetam exhibit a high affinity for...

