Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or shock therapy, remains a critical biomedical intervention for severe, treatment-resistant depression. While its origins can be traced back to Hippocrates' observations that malaria-induced convulsions alleviated mental illness, modern ECT has evolved significantly from its earlier, more primitive applications. First introduced in 1938 by Ugo Cerletti and his colleagues, ECT involves inducing controlled seizures using electrical currents. In its early years,...

Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents

Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents

Atypical antidepressants, including bupropion (Wellbutrin), mirtazapine (Remeron), nefazodone (Serzone), trazodone (Desyrel), and vilazodone (Viibryd), offer unique mechanisms of action. Bupropion weakly inhibits dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake, aiding depression treatment and smoking cessation, with a low risk of sexual dysfunction. Mirtazapine enhances serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmission, leading to sedation, increased appetite, and weight gain. As a result, it helps treat...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Patient preference effects in a randomized comparative effectiveness study of electroconvulsive therapy and ketamine for treatment resistant depression: An ELEKT-D trial secondary analysis.

Psychiatry research·2025

Same author

Fast depressive symptoms improvement in bipolar I disorder after Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT): A two-site feasibility and safety open-label trial.

Journal of affective disorders·2024

Same author

Ketamine vs Electroconvulsive Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

JAMA network open·2024

Same author

Aggression and Prevention of Use of Seclusion and Restraint in Inpatient Psychiatry.

Focus (American Psychiatric Publishing)·2020

Same author

Low-Frequency Right Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for the Treatment of Depression After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Sham-Controlled Pilot Study.

The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences·2019

Same author

Encompassing a global mental health perspective into psychotherapy research: a critique of approaches to measuring the efficacy of psychotherapy for depression.

Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences·2019

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy

Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy

Published on: April 11, 2019

Transdermal selegiline in patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy.

Pamela J Horn¹, Irving Reti, Geetha Jayaram

¹Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. phorn2@jhmi.edu

|March 25, 2010

Summary

Concurrent use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) with transdermal selegiline, a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), showed no adverse events in depressed patients. This combination is a viable option for relapse prevention during ECT treatment.

More Related Videos

Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins

Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins

Published on: August 15, 2017

Vagus Nerve Stimulation As an Adjunctive Neurostimulation Tool in Treatment-resistant Depression

Vagus Nerve Stimulation As an Adjunctive Neurostimulation Tool in Treatment-resistant Depression

Published on: January 7, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy

Pupillary Response as Assessment of Effective Seizure Induction by Electroconvulsive Therapy

Published on: April 11, 2019

Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins

Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins

Published on: August 15, 2017

Vagus Nerve Stimulation As an Adjunctive Neurostimulation Tool in Treatment-resistant Depression

Vagus Nerve Stimulation As an Adjunctive Neurostimulation Tool in Treatment-resistant Depression

Published on: January 7, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Pharmacology

Background:

The concurrent use of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a subject of clinical debate.
Investigating the safety and efficacy of novel MAOI formulations with ECT is crucial for treatment optimization.

Observation:

This report details two cases of patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) while receiving transdermal selegiline, a recently approved MAOI for depression.
Transdermal selegiline was initiated at a low dose prior to the completion of the ECT course.

Findings:

No complications or adverse events were observed during the concurrent administration of ECT and low-dose, transdermally delivered selegiline.
The study suggests that this combination treatment is safe for patients with depression.

Implications:

Beginning low-dose transdermal selegiline before ECT completion presents a viable strategy for preventing relapse in depression.
This approach may offer a new therapeutic option for managing treatment-resistant depression, enhancing patient outcomes.