Increased thalamostriatal-mesiotemporal glucose uptake with symptom remission in schizophrenia--a case report

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective modality of treatment, especially in medication-resistant psychiatric conditions. We report the case of an individual with schizophrenia and prominent negative symptoms who, despite poor response to medications, exhibited significant symptom remission with ECT. Post-ECT fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography scan revealed increased uptake in the thalamostriatal-mesiotemporal regions, suggesting a possible mechanism of action of ect in alleviation of negative symptoms.