Autobiographical amnesia with ECT: an analysis of the roles of stimulus wave form, electrode placement, stimulus energy, and seizure length.

Based on the hypothesis that decreased stimulus energy might reduce ECT-induced amnesia, Liberson (1948) and others advocated seizure induction with low-energy pulse wave forms instead of the conventional sinusoidal wave form. Recent studies have reported similar antidepressive efficacy between brief-pulse and sinusoidal ECT (Carney and Sheffield, 1974; Weaver et al., I~77; Welch et al., 1982). However, existing studies (Medlicott , 1948; Epstein and Wender, 1956; Kendall et al., 1956 ; Valentine et al., 1968) that report more amnesia following sine than pulse ECT contain methodological inadequacies that render the results equivocal (discussed by Daniel et al., 1982: Daniel and Cruvitz, in press). Preliminary results from a recent study (Weiner et al., 1982) revealed a nonsignificant trend towards greater "personal memory" impairment following sinusoidal than brief-pulse ECT. Another recent study (Daniel et al., 1982) reported no intergroup difference in autobiographical memory (memory for a specific episode in patients' lives). However, this latter study used a single