Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32301408›Full record

ArticleBJPsych open2020

Cognitive side-effects of electroconvulsive therapy: what are they, how to monitor them and what to tell patients.

Richard J Porter, Bernhard T Baune, Grace Morris, Amber Hamilton, Darryl Bassett, Philip Boyce, Malcolm J Hopwood, Roger Mulder, Gordon Parker, Ajeet B Singh and 3 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BJPsych open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
8.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Efficacy and Safety ofNutrients · 2024
    Trial
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Electroconvulsive therapy and autobiographical memory.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2026
    Article
  10. Advances in the Clinical Application of Neurostimulation in Major Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. BJPsych open · 2025
    Review
  16. Article
  17. The relationship between electric field strength induced by electroconvulsive therapy and cognitive and antidepressant outcomes.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.

Richard J PorterTreatment Algorithm Group; and Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago - Christchurch, New Zealand.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8695-3966
Bernhard T BauneTreatment Algorithm Group; and Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Grace MorrisTreatment Algorithm Group; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District; Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3598-9712
Amber HamiltonTreatment Algorithm Group; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District; Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia.
Darryl BassettTreatment Algorithm Group; and Private Practice in Psychiatry and Division of Psychiatry, the University of Western Australia, Australia.
Philip BoyceTreatment Algorithm Group; and Discipline of Psychiatry, Sydney Medical School, Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney, Australia.
Malcolm J HopwoodTreatment Algorithm Group; and Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Australia.
Roger MulderTreatment Algorithm Group; and Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Otago - Christchurch, New Zealand.
Gordon ParkerTreatment Algorithm Group; School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales; andBlack Dog Institute, Australia.
Ajeet B SinghTreatment Algorithm Group; and School of Medicine, IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, Deakin University, Australia.
Tim OuthredTreatment Algorithm Group; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District; Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia.
Pritha DasTreatment Algorithm Group; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District; Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia.
Gin S MalhiTreatment Algorithm Group; Academic Department of Psychiatry, Northern Sydney Local Health District; Sydney Medical School Northern, University of Sydney; and CADE Clinic, Royal North Shore Hospital, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4524-9091
The University of Sydney · AUThe University of Melbourne · AUUniversity of Otago · NZBlack Dog Institute · AUDeakin University · AUThe University of Western Australia · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundElectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is recommended in treatment guidelines as an efficacious therapy for treatment-resistant depression. However, it has been associated with loss of autobiographical memory and short-term reduction in new learning.

aimsTo provide clinically useful guidelines to aid clinicians in informing patients regarding the cognitive side-effects of ECT and in monitoring these during a course of ECT, using complex data.

methodA Committee of clinical and academic experts from Australia and New Zealand met to the discuss the key issues pertaining to ECT and cognitive side-effects. Evidence regarding cognitive side-effects was reviewed, as was the limited evidence regarding how to monitor them. Both issues were supplemented by the clinical experience of the authors.

resultsMeta-analyses suggest that new learning is impaired immediately following ECT but that group mean scores return at least to baseline by 14 days after ECT. Other cognitive functions are generally unaffected. However, the finding of a mean score that is not reduced from baseline cannot be taken to indicate that impairment, particularly of new learning, cannot occur in individuals, particularly those who are at greater risk. Therefore, monitoring is still important. Evidence suggests that ECT does cause deficits in autobiographical memory. The evidence for schedules of testing to monitor cognitive side-effects is currently limited. We therefore make practical recommendations based on clinical experience.

conclusionsDespite modern ECT techniques, cognitive side-effects remain an important issue, although their nature and degree remains to be clarified fully. In these circumstances it is useful for clinicians to have guidance regarding what to tell patients and how to monitor these side-effects clinically.

Indexed as

cognitionDepressionelectroconvulsive therapymemory disordersneuropsychological tests

Identifiers

PMID32301408
PMCPMC7191622
OpenAlexW3016564443

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.