Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37488281›Full record

ReviewNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2024

How electroconvulsive therapy works in the treatment of depression: is it the seizure, the electricity, or both?

Zhi-De Deng, Pei L Robins, William Regenold, Paul Rohde, Moritz Dannhauer, Sarah H Lisanby

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
14.2field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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

33 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 64 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Zhi-De DengNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8925-0871
Pei L RobinsNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
William RegenoldNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Paul RohdeNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Moritz DannhauerNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Sarah H LisanbyNoninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Sarah.Lisanby@NIH.gov.ORCID 0000-0003-2037-6470
National Institute of Mental Health · US

Funding

Non-invasive Neuromodulation Unit (NNU)ZIAMH002955 · NIMH · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH · PI ZARATE, CARLOS · 2016 to 2025
$40.3M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA MH002955
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We have known for nearly a century that triggering seizures can treat serious mental illness, but what we do not know is why. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) works faster and better than conventional pharmacological interventions; however, those benefits come with a burden of side effects, most notably memory loss. Disentangling the mechanisms by which ECT exerts rapid therapeutic benefit from the mechanisms driving adverse effects could enable the development of the next generation of seizure therapies that lack the downside of ECT. The latest research suggests that this goal may be attainable because modifications of ECT technique have already yielded improvements in cognitive outcomes without sacrificing efficacy. These modifications involve changes in how the electricity is administered (both where in the brain, and how much), which in turn impacts the characteristics of the resulting seizure. What we do not completely understand is whether it is the changes in the applied electricity, or in the resulting seizure, or both, that are responsible for improved safety. Answering this question may be key to developing the next generation of seizure therapies that lack these adverse side effects, and ushering in novel interventions that are better, faster, and safer than ECT.

Indexed as

Electroconvulsive TherapyDepressionElectricityElectroencephalographyHumansSeizuresTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID37488281
PMCPMC10700353
OpenAlexW4385197035

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.