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

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

A controlled comparison of simulated and real ECT.

J Lambourn, D Gill

The British Journal of Psychiatry : the Journal of Mental Science

|December 1, 1978

Summary

Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) showed minimal superiority over a sham procedure in treating depressive psychosis. The study suggests the pre-treatment process, not the shocks, may be the key therapeutic element.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

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

Sort by

Same author

Compositional analysis and characterization of black huckleberry and soapberry: Two culturally significant berries for Indigenous communities of the Pacific Northwest.

Food chemistry: X·2025

Same author

Coupled Femtoexcitons, Free Carriers, and Light.

Nano letters·2025

Same author

Direct coupling of light to valley current.

Nature communications·2024

Same author

A randomized single-blinded prospective study comparing simulated daylight photodynamic therapy with natural daylight photodynamic therapy for multiple actinic keratoses.

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV·2024

Same author

A Brief History of Human Challenge Studies (1900-2021) Emphasising the Virology, Regulatory and Ethical Requirements, Raison D'etre, Ethnography, Selection of Volunteers and Unit Design.

Current topics in microbiology and immunology·2022

Same author

2021 Canadian Surgery Forum: Virtual, online Sept. 21-24, 2021.

Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie·2022

Area of Science:

Psychiatry
Neurology

Background:

Depressive psychosis is a severe mental health condition.
Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is a common treatment, but its efficacy is debated.
Brief pulse unilateral ECT is a specific modality under investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the effectiveness of brief pulse unilateral electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) compared to a sham procedure in patients with depressive psychosis.
To investigate the therapeutic contribution of the ECT pre-treatment procedure itself.

Main Methods:

A controlled trial involving two groups of 16 patients with depressive psychosis.
One group received active brief pulse unilateral ECT under anesthesia and muscle relaxation.
The control group underwent the same procedure without electrical stimulation, assessed under double-blind conditions using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression.

Main Results:

Brief pulse unilateral ECT was not significantly superior to the sham procedure, showing improvement on only one scale item by chance.
The pre-treatment procedure (anesthesia and muscle relaxation) appeared to have a notable therapeutic effect.
The findings question the general effectiveness of ECT and specifically brief pulse unilateral ECT.

Conclusions:

The therapeutic effect in the study may be attributed to the pre-treatment procedure rather than the ECT itself.
Current understanding of ECT's effectiveness, particularly brief pulse unilateral ECT, may require re-evaluation.
Further research is needed to isolate the active components of ECT treatments.

Related Experiment Videos