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Updated: Jul 26, 2025
Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins
Published on: August 15, 2017
Reviewing the neurobiology of electroconvulsive therapy on a micro- meso- and macro-level
Jean-Baptiste Belge1, Peter Mulders2, Linda Van Diermen3
1Department of Psychiatry, Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium; Department of Psychiatry, Radboud University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Background:
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains the one of the most effective of biological antidepressant interventions. However, the exact neurobiological mechanisms underlying the efficacy of ECT remain unclear. A gap in the literature is the lack of multimodal research that attempts to integrate findings at different biological levels of analysis METHODS: We searched the PubMed database for relevant studies. We review biological studies of ECT in depression on a micro- (molecular), meso- (structural) and macro- (network) level.
Results:
ECT impacts both peripheral and central inflammatory processes, triggers neuroplastic mechanisms and modulates large scale neural network connectivity.
Conclusions:
Integrating this vast body of existing evidence, we are tempted to speculate that ECT may have neuroplastic effects resulting in the modulation of connectivity between and among specific large-scale networks that are altered in depression. These effects could be mediated by the immunomodulatory properties of the treatment. A better understanding of the complex interactions between the micro-, meso- and macro- level might further specify the mechanisms of action of ECT.
