Exploring Neuropsychological Functioning After Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Domain of Memory: A Prospective Study

IF 5 2区医学 Q1 PSYCHIATRY

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Pub Date : 2025-06-17 DOI:10.1111/acps.70001

Jasmien Obbels, Kristof Vansteelandt, Esmée Verwijk, Kaat Hebbrecht, Shauni Verspecht, Nathalie Denayer, Liese Van den Eynde, Pascal Sienaert

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Abstract

Objective

There is ongoing concern about the possible negative impact of ECT on neuropsychological functioning, especially on autobiographical memory. In this study we aimed to identify the short- and long-term neuropsychological effects of ECT in the domain of memory.

Methods

Twenty-eight patients aged 18 years and older with a unipolar or bipolar depression, referred for ECT, were eventually included. The neuropsychological test battery assessed verbal memory, verbal fluency, and autobiographical memory. The battery was administered prior to ECT, 1 week, and 3 months after the last ECT session. We compared the neuropsychological performances of our sample with normative data from a healthy population.

Results

After adjusting for covariates, performance on tasks assessing verbal memory, verbal fluency, and autobiographical memory showed a significant decline during ECT. However, test scores significantly improved following the completion of ECT. Additionally, patients with higher QIDS-CR scores consistently demonstrated lower performance on the verbal fluency task across all time points. No significant association was found between the total number of ECT sessions and changes in test scores during or after treatment. 3 months after ending ECT, cognitive functioning returned to pretreatment levels of performance. We found that patients with a depressive episode performed significantly worse on task measuring verbal memory and fluency at every time point as compared to a healthy population.

Conclusion

Our results show that a course of ECT in patients with a depressive episode influences verbal memory, autobiographical memory and verbal fluency. Neuropsychological performances significantly declined during ECT. Following ECT, neuropsychological performances, as compared to during ECT, were significantly improved and were equivalent to baseline. However, neuropsychological performance remains poor as compared to a healthy population.

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探索电休克治疗后记忆领域的神经心理功能：一项前瞻性研究

目的电痉挛疗法对神经心理功能，尤其是对自传体记忆的负面影响一直受到关注。在这项研究中，我们旨在确定电痉挛疗法在记忆领域的短期和长期神经心理效应。方法28例18岁及以上单极或双相抑郁症患者，经ECT治疗。神经心理学测试评估了语言记忆、语言流畅性和自传体记忆。在电痉挛治疗前、最后一次电痉挛治疗后1周和3个月分别给药。我们将样本的神经心理学表现与健康人群的规范数据进行了比较。结果在调整协变量后，在ECT期间，评估言语记忆、言语流畅性和自传体记忆的任务表现显著下降。然而，测试成绩在ECT完成后显著提高。此外，QIDS-CR得分较高的患者在所有时间点上都表现出较低的语言流畅性任务表现。在治疗期间或治疗后，电痉挛疗法的总次数和测试分数的变化之间没有发现显著的关联。结束ECT治疗3个月后，认知功能恢复到治疗前水平。我们发现，与健康人群相比，抑郁发作患者在每个时间点的言语记忆和流畅性测试中表现明显更差。结论一个疗程的电痉挛治疗对抑郁症患者的言语记忆、自传体记忆和言语流畅性有影响。电痉挛治疗期间神经心理学表现明显下降。ECT后，神经心理学表现，与ECT期间相比，显著改善，与基线相当。然而，与健康人群相比，他们的神经心理表现仍然很差。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

3.00%

发文量

135

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica acts as an international forum for the dissemination of information advancing the science and practice of psychiatry. In particular we focus on communicating frontline research to clinical psychiatrists and psychiatric researchers. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica has traditionally been and remains a journal focusing predominantly on clinical psychiatry, but translational psychiatry is a topic of growing importance to our readers. Therefore, the journal welcomes submission of manuscripts based on both clinical- and more translational (e.g. preclinical and epidemiological) research. When preparing manuscripts based on translational studies for submission to Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, the authors should place emphasis on the clinical significance of the research question and the findings. Manuscripts based solely on preclinical research (e.g. animal models) are normally not considered for publication in the Journal.