Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-2lccl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T00:17:32.629Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - Cognitive Side-Effects of ECT

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2019

By
Martha Finnegan  and
Declan M McLoughlin
Edited by
I. Nicol Ferrier  and
Jonathan Waite
I. Nicol Ferrier
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
Jonathan Waite
Affiliation:
University of Nottingham
Get access

Summary

Cognitive side-effects of ECT are among the most important factors limiting prescription and uptake of ECT. Patients, families and clinicians alike share concerns about a variety of cognitive side-effects.

Type
Chapter
Information
The ECT Handbook , pp. 109 - 120
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, S. J., Cohen, G. & Taylor, S. (2000). Rewriting the past: some factors affecting the variability of personal memories. Applied Cognitive Psychology 14, 435–54.Google Scholar
Andrade, C., Arumugham, S. & Thirthalli, J. (2016). Adverse effects of electroconvulsive Therapy. Psychiatr Clin North Am 39, 513–30.Google Scholar
APA (American Psychiatric Association, 2010). Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Third Edition. American Psychiatric Association, Virginia, USA.Google Scholar
Bjølseth, T. M., Engedal, K., Benth, J. Š., et al. (2016). Speed of recovery from disorientation may predict the treatment outcome of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in elderly patients with major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders 190, 178–86.Google Scholar
Brus, O., Nordanskog, P., Båve, U., et al. (2017). Subjective memory immediately following electroconvulsive therapy. The Journal of ECT 33, 96–103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calev, A., Cohen, R., Tubi, N., et al. (1991). Disorientation and bilateral moderately suprathreshold titrated ECT. The Journal of ECT 7, 99–110.Google Scholar
Choi, J., Wang, Y., Feng, T. & Prudic, J. (2017). Cognitive training to improve memory in individuals undergoing electroconvulsive therapy: negative findings. Journal of Psychiatric Research 92, 8–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunne, R. A. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2012). Systematic review and meta-analysis of bifrontal electroconvulsive therapy versus bilateral and unilateral electroconvulsive therapy in depression. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 13, 248–58.Google Scholar
Falconer, D., Cleland, J., Fielding, S. & Reid, I. C. (2010). Using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to assess the cognitive impact of electroconvulsive therapy on visual and visuospatial memory. Psychological Medicine 40, 1017–25.Google Scholar
Fink, M. (2007). Complaints of loss of personal memories after electroconvulsive therapy: evidence of a somatoform disorder? Psychosomatics 48, 290–3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henstra, M. J., Jansma, E. P., Velde, N., Swart, E. L., Stek, M. L. & Rhebergen, D. (2017). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for electroconvulsive therapy‐induced cognitive side effects: a systematic review. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 32, 522–31.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodges, J. R. & Larner, A. J. (2017). Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examinations: ACE, ACE-R, ACE-III, ACEapp, and M-ACE. In: Larner, A. (ed) Cognitive Screening Instruments. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Hsieh, S., Schubert, S., Hoon, C., Mioshi, E. & Hodges, J. R. (2013). Validation of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders 36, 242–50.Google Scholar
Fray, P. J., Robbins, T. W. & Sahakian, B. J. (1996). Neuropsychiatric applications of CANTAB. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 11, 329–36.Google Scholar
Jelovac, A., O’Connor, S., McCarron, S. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2016). Autobiographical memory specificity in major depression treated with electroconvulsive therapy. The Journal of ECT 32, 38–43.Google Scholar
Kikuchi, A., Yasui‐Furukori, N., Fujii, A., Katagai, H. & Kaneko, S. (2009). Identification of predictors of post‐ictal delirium after electroconvulsive therapy. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 63, 180–5.Google Scholar
Kolshus, E., Jelovac, A. & McLoughlin, D. (2017). Bitemporal v. high-dose right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Psychological Medicine 47, 518–30.Google Scholar
Kopelman, M., Wilson, B. & Baddeley, A. (1989). The autobiographical memory interview: a new assessment of autobiographical and personal semantic memory in amnesic patients. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 11, 724–44.Google Scholar
Kumar, D. R., Han, H. K., Tiller, J., Loo, C. K. & Martin, D. M. (2016). A brief measure for assessing patient perceptions of cognitive side effects after electroconvulsive therapy: the subjective assessment of memory impairment. The Journal of ECT 32, 256–61.Google Scholar
Lerer, B., Shapira, B., Calev, A., Tubi, N., Drexler, H. & Kindler, S. (1995). Antidepressant and cognitive effects of twice- versus three-times-weekly ECT. Am J Psych 1, 565.Google Scholar
Lezak, M. D. (2012). Neuropsychological Assessment, Fifth Edition. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Lisanby, S. H., Maddox, J. H., Prudic, J., Devanand, D. & Sackeim, H. A. (2000). The effects of electroconvulsive therapy on memory of autobiographical and public events. Archives of General Psychiatry 57, 581–90.Google Scholar
Maric, N. P., Stojanovic, Z., Andric, S., Soldatovic, I., Dolic, M., & Spiric, Z. (2016). The acute and medium-term effects of treatment with electroconvulsive therapy on memory in patients with major depressive disorder. Psychological Medicine 46, 797–806.Google Scholar
Martin, D. M., Katalinic, N., Ingram, A., et al. (2013). A new early cognitive screening measure to detect cognitive side-effects of electroconvulsive therapy? Journal of Psychiatric Research 47, 1967–74.Google Scholar
Martin, D. M., Gálvez, V. & Loo, C. K. (2015). Predicting retrograde autobiographical memory changes following electroconvulsive therapy: relationships between individual, treatment, and early clinical factors. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyv067Google Scholar
McClintock, S. M., Choi, J., Deng, Z.-D., et al. (2014). Multifactorial determinants of the neurocognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy. The Journal of ECT 30, 165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McElhiney, M. C., Moody, B. J., Steif, B. L., et al. (1995). Autobiographical memory and mood: effects of electroconvulsive therapy. Neuropsychology 9, 501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McElhiney, M., Moody, B. & Sackeim, H. (2001). Manual for Administration and Scoring the Columbia University Autobiographical Memory Interview—Short Form, Version 3. In New York State Psychiatric Institute: New York.Google Scholar
McGirr, A., Berlim, M.T., Bond, P.Y. et al. (2017). Adjunctive ketamine in electroconvulsive therapy: updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Psychiat 210, 403–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molloy, D., Alemayehu, E. & Roberts, R. (1991). A standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE): improved reliability compared to the traditional MMSE. Am J Psych 148, 102–5.Google Scholar
Nasreddine, Z. S., Phillips, N. A., Bédirian, V., et al. (2005). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment, MoCA: a brief screening tool for mild cognitive impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53, 695–9.Google Scholar
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) (2009). Guidance on the use of electroconvulsive therapy. In, NICE technology appraisal guidance [TA59]: www.nice.org.ukGoogle Scholar
Petrides, G., Tobias, K. G., Kellner, C. H. & Rudorfer, M. V. (2011). Continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for mood disorders: review of the literature. Neuropsychobiology 64, 129–40.Google Scholar
Reti, I. M., Krishnan, A., Podlisky, A., et al. (2014). Predictors of electroconvulsive therapy postictal delirium. Psychosomatics 55, 272–9.Google Scholar
Rose, D., Fleischmann, P., Wykes, T., Leese, M. & Bindman, J. (2003). Patients’ perspectives on electroconvulsive therapy: systematic review. British Medical Journal 326, 1363.Google Scholar
Russell, J. C., Rasmussen, K. G., O’connor, M. K., Copeman, C. A., Ryan, D. A. & Rummans, T. A. (2003). Long-term maintenance ECT: a retrospective review of efficacy and cognitive outcome. The Journal of ECT 19, 4–9.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H. A., Prudic, J., Devanand, D., et al. (1993). Effects of stimulus intensity and electrode placement on the efficacy and cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy. New England Journal of Medicine 328, 839–846.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sackeim, H. A., Prudic, J., Devanand, D., et al. (2000). A prospective, randomized, double-blind comparison of bilateral and right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy at different stimulus intensities. Archives of General Psychiatry 57, 425–34.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H. A., Prudic, J., Fuller, R., Keilp, J., Lavori, P. W. & Olfson, M. (2007). The cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy in community settings. Neuropsychopharmacology 32, 244–54.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H. A., Prudic, J., Nobler, M. S., et al. (2008). Effects of pulse width and electrode placement on the efficacy and cognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy. Brain Stimulation 1, 71–83.Google Scholar
Sackeim, H. A. (2014). Autobiographical memory and ECT: don’t throw out the baby. The Journal of ECT 30, 177.Google Scholar
Sartorius, A., Wolf, J. & Henn, F. A. (2005). Lithium and ECT–concurrent use still demands attention: three case reports. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 6, 121–4.Google Scholar
Semkovska, M. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2010). Objective cognitive performance associated with electroconvulsive therapy for depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biological Psychiatry 68, 568–77.Google Scholar
Semkovska, M., Noone, M., Carton, M. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2012). Measuring consistency of autobiographical memory recall in depression. Psychiatry Res 197, 41–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Semkovska, M. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2013). Measuring retrograde autobiographical amnesia following electroconvulsive therapy: historical perspective and current issues. The Journal of ECT 29, 127–33.Google Scholar
Semkovska, M. & McLoughlin, D. M. (2014). Retrograde autobiographical amnesia after electroconvulsive therapy: on the difficulty of finding the baby and clearing murky bathwater. The Journal of ECT 30, 187–8.Google Scholar
Semkovska, M., Landau, S., Dunne, R., et al. (2016). Bitemporal versus high-dose unilateral twice-weekly electroconvulsive therapy for depression (EFFECT-Dep): a pragmatic, randomised, non-inferiority trial. Am J Psychiatry 173, 408–17.Google Scholar
Sienaert, P., Vansteelandt, K., Demyttenaere, K. & Peuskens, J. (2010). Randomized comparison of ultra-brief bifrontal and unilateral electroconvulsive therapy for major depression: cognitive side-effects. Journal of Affective Disorders 122, 60–7.Google Scholar
Smith, G. E., Rasmussen, K. G. Jr, Cullum, C. M., et al. (2010). A randomized controlled trial comparing the memory effects of continuation electroconvulsive therapy versus continuation pharmacotherapy: results from the Consortium for Research in ECT (CORE) study. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 71, 185–93.Google Scholar
Sobin, C., Sackeim, H. A., Prudic, J. & Devanand, D. (1995). Predictors of retrograde amnesia following ECT. Am J Psych 152, 995.Google Scholar
Squire, L., Wetzel, C. & Slater, P. (1979). Memory complaint after electroconvulsive therapy: assessment with a new self-rating instrument. Biological Psychiatry 14, 791–801.Google Scholar
Squire, L. R., Cohen, N. J. & Zouzounis, J. A. (1984). Preserved memory in retrograde amnesia: Sparing of a recently acquired skill. Neuropsychologia 22, 145–52.Google Scholar
Talarico, J. M. & Rubin, D. C. (2003). Confidence, not consistency, characterizes flashbulb memories. Psychological Science 14, 455–61.Google Scholar
Thirthalli, J., Harish, T. & Gangadhar, B. N. (2011). A prospective comparative study of interaction between lithium and modified electroconvulsive therapy. The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry 12, 149–55.Google Scholar
Tombaugh, T. N. & McIntyre, N. J. (1992). The Mini-Mental State Examination: a comprehensive review. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 40, 922–35.Google Scholar
Tor, P.-C., Bautovich, A., Wang, M.-J., Martin, D., Harvey, S. B. & Loo, C. (2015). A systematic review and meta-analysis of brief versus ultrabrief right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy for depression. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 76, 1092–8.Google Scholar
Tsaltas, E., Kalogerakou, S., Papakosta, V.-M., et al. (2011). Contrasting patterns of deficits in visuospatial memory and executive function in patients with major depression with and without ECT referral. Psychological Medicine 41, 983–95.Google Scholar
Vakil, E., Grunhaus, L., Nagar, I., et al. (2000). The effect of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on implicit memory: skill learning and perceptual priming in patients with major depression. Neuropsychologia 38, 1405–14.Google Scholar
Verwijk, E., Comijs, H. C., Kok, R. M., Spaans, H.-P., Stek, M. L. & Scherder, E. J. (2012). Neurocognitive effects after brief pulse and ultrabrief pulse unilateral electroconvulsive therapy for major depression: a review. Journal of Affective Disorders 140, 233–43.Google Scholar
Verwijk, E., Spaans, H.-P., Comijs, H. C., et al. (2015). Relapse and long-term cognitive performance after brief pulse or ultrabrief pulse right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy: a multicenter naturalistic follow up. Journal of Affective Disorders 184, 137–44.Google Scholar
Volpe, F. M. & Tavares, A. R. Jr (2012). Lithium plus ECT for mania in 90 cases: safety issues. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 24, E33–E33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×