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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Neurostimulation
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1443270

Role of Stimulus Dose on Neuropsychological Functioning after Electroconvulsive Therapy in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder

Provisionally accepted
Lea Rummel Lea Rummel 1,2Katharina Göke Katharina Göke 3Alexandra Philipsen Alexandra Philipsen 2René Hurlemann René Hurlemann 1Maximilian Kiebs Maximilian Kiebs 1,2*
  • 1 Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
  • 2 Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • 3 Institute of Medical Science, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression but its use is often limited by the concern for cognitive side effects.This study examines the effect of ECT on autobiographical and verbal memory compared to a healthy control group and the impact of the mean stimulus dose on cognition after ECT.Methods: Autobiographical and verbal memory were assessed in depressed patients and healthy controls before the first and within one week after the last ECT treatment. Neuropsychological testing included the Autobiographical Memory Interview, the Verbal Learning and Memory Test and five tests from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. The mean charge delivered across the ECT series and the total number of sessions were examined in relationship to cognitive impairment after ECT using a multiple regression model.Results: Autobiographical memory was significantly impaired after ECT treatment compared to healthy controls. Baseline scores were lower for depressed patients on all cognitive domains. Improvements in performance after ECT were found on tests for executive functions and working memory. Effects of the mean charge delivered on cognitive functioning after ECT were heterogeneous across cognitive domains but significant for verbal retrograde memory.ECT led to autobiographical and verbal memory impairment. The relationship between mean charge delivered and cognitive performance is heterogeneous across different cognitive domains and requires further research. Significant effects of the mean charge delivered were found without a significant difference in cognitive functioning compared to a healthy control group.

    Keywords: Electroconvulsive Therapy, Neuropsychology, Treatment dose, Charge, Depression

    Received: 03 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rummel, Göke, Philipsen, Hurlemann and Kiebs. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Maximilian Kiebs, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.