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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...

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Updated: Dec 25, 2025

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

Subjective memory impairment after electroconvulsive therapy - potentially modifiable?

Kate Eggleston¹, Richard Porter²

¹Canterbury District Health BoardNew Zealand; and Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.

|April 7, 2020

Summary

Patients undergoing electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) who expect memory problems are more likely to report memory worsening. Addressing patient expectations during informed consent may reduce subjective memory difficulties after ECT.

Keywords:

Electroconvulsive therapy cognition memory

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Clinical Psychology

Background:

Memory impairment is a significant side-effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
Predicting patient risk for memory difficulties post-ECT remains challenging.
Patient expectations may influence their subjective experience of cognitive side effects.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relationship between pre-ECT expectations and post-ECT subjective memory difficulties.
To explore potential interventions for mitigating memory side effects of ECT.

Main Methods:

Comparative study design.
Assessment of patient memory experiences before and after ECT.
Analysis of subjective memory complaints in relation to patient expectations.

Main Results:

Patients with negative expectations regarding ECT's memory effects reported greater subjective memory worsening.
Pre-treatment expectations were identified as a predictor of post-treatment memory complaints.

Conclusions:

Patient expectations play a crucial role in the subjective experience of memory impairment following ECT.
Informed consent process and addressing patient concerns may help manage and potentially reduce post-ECT memory difficulties.