[Electroconvulsive treatment and phenomenon of kindling in depression]

Except for pharmacotherapy--electroconvulsive treatment ECT is the most important therapy form of depressive disorders. Although ECT elicits a paroxysmal activity in the brain, the convulsive electric stimulation ECT leads however at least to a anti-convulsive effect (e.g.: elevation of the threshold level). The submitted work undertakes a trail of analysis about kindling-another neurophysiological mechanism. This phenomenon was described in sixties of the 20th century and depends on inducing of spontaneous paroxysmal activity as a result of the subthreshold brain stimulation. The same effect is taken as one of the (possible) basic pathomechanisms not only of epilepsy, but also of some psychiatric disorders., e.g. depression (or affective disorders). On the second hand--the ECT is a suprathreshold stimulation and should not be able to produce the process of kindling. Some doubt in the possibility of kindling occurrence in the human species. The work discusses the possible relationships between physical therapy such as ECT and the phenomenon of kindling, as well as it presents their possible implications.