Verbal perseveration after right-unilateral ECT

After electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), many patients experience a decrement in their mnestic capacity. We studied episodic memory in eight severely depressed patients treated with a course of right-unilateral ECT. For this purpose, a testing instrument was constructed by the authors. It was made of paper cards that held four pieces of information, namely a word, a number, a figure, and the color of the card. One of the cards was presented to the patients and the respective information was asked for on the subsequent day. Patients were tested every morning during the first two weeks of the ECT course. About half of the responses were correct. Patients did best in recalling the color; they did worst in recalling the number. Seven of the patients showed verbal perseverations. This is in accordance with the literature on perseveration in patients with neurologic deficits, especially in proactive-inhibitory tasks. Perseveration may be attributed to a deficit in selective attention, producing an arousal of irrelevant cues.