[Bencyclane in memory disorders. Treatment of memory disorders caused by electroshock in a group of depressed patients]

Subjects treated with electroshock and subjected simultaneously to bencyclan at a dose of 00 mg (2 ampoules) i.v. and 100 mg (1 pill) per os pro die did not present dysmnesia either during the intervals between one electroshock treatment and another, nor at the conclusion of treatment (on average 12 sessions in about 40 days), while a control group treated at the same rhythm and with the same number of sessions, but without bencyclan, presented considerable memory lapses which disappeared only after a lengthy period of this latter treatment. Memory disturbances have been evaluated with a memorization test to which all patients were subjected. This test belongs to the group of intellectual efficiency reactive tests used in the psychology laboratory of the Catholic University of Milan; it consists of a group of 12 figures of common objects which, once observed, have to be recalled exactly immediately and some time later by the patient, who has to indicate the name and position of the objects represented in the chart.