Short and long-term effects of single and multiple sessions of electroconvulsive therapy on brain gray matter volumes

AbstractBackground Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been shown to induce broadly distributed cortical and subcortical volume increases, more prominently in the amygdala hippocampus. Structural changes after one ECT session long-term have understudied. Objective The aim of this study was describe short-term induced regions by ECT. Methods brain data were acquired from depressed patients before 2 h their first session, 7–14 days end series at 6 months follow up (N = 34). Healthy, age gender matched volunteers scanned according same schedule 18) affected atrial fibrillation 1–2 undergoing electrical cardioversion 16). Images parcelled using FreeSurfer estimates gray matter obtained Quarc. Results Volume increase observable most with significant results stem, bilateral hippocampi, right putamen left thalamus, temporal occipital hemisphere. At treatment series, widespread observed. After six months, still significantly increased. No observed comparison groups. Conclusions increases areas can be detected a single session. Further studies are warranted explore underlying molecular mechanisms.